During the autumn of 1894 several specimens of this interesting species were captured in the Wellington Botanical Gardens by Mr. A. Norris.
The expansion of the wings of the ♂ is 1⅝ inches, of the ♀ 1½ inches. The fore-wings of the male are warm brown, darker towards the base; there is a wavy, white-edged, black, transverse line at about one-fifth, followed by a round black spot; the costa is yellowish, with four pairs of short oblique black marks; the orbicular is large, oval, oblique, pale yellowish-brown slightly darker in the middle; the claviform is small, obscure, and brownish-black; the reniform is black, outlined with dull white; there is a series of very acute, dull white, tooth-like terminal markings, and the termen itself is slightly scalloped; the cilia are dark brown. The hind-wings are grey with a series of small dark marks on the termen; the cilia are reddish-ochreous. The head and anterior portion of the thorax are reddish-ochreous; the rest of the thorax is rich brown, and there is a conspicuous black transverse line between the pale and dark colouring; the abdomen is reddish-ochreous with the crests reddish-brown. The female is much darker and duller than the male, the markings are much less distinct, there are several additional jagged transverse lines, and the white markings of the male are indistinctly indicated in drab.
The perfect insect appears in March.
MELANCHRA DOTATA, Walk.
(Dasypolia dotata, Walk., Noct. 522. Mamestra dotata, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xix. 24.)
(Plate [V]., fig. 16.)
This species has occurred at Nelson.
The expansion of the wings is 1½ inches. The fore-wings are very dark brownish-black; there are several obscure black marks near the base; the orbicular is large, oblong, finely margined with black, the claviform is triangular, also finely margined with black, both orbicular and claviform are surrounded by a conspicuous black shading; the reniform is large ear-shaped, white towards the termen and dark brown towards the base of the wing, the white portion is traversed by a curved brownish line; there is a curved transverse line near the termen, the space immediately inside this line being paler than the rest of the wing; there is a terminal series of obscure pale dots. The hind-wings are dark brown, paler towards the base; the cilia are also brown.
A single specimen of this insect was reared from a pupa found at Wakapuaka, near Nelson. Mr. Fereday also has a specimen, but without note of locality.
MELANCHRA ASTEROPE, n. sp.