The expansion of the wings is 1⅛ inches. All the wings are very pale greenish-grey. The male has three distinct dark brownish bands near the base, an irregular broad suffused band near the middle, becoming obsolete before it reaches the dorsum, a dark patch at the apex, another patch on the termen below the apex and another near the tornus. The hind-wings are traversed by numerous, very fine, wavy blackish lines, becoming darker towards the dorsum. In the female there are three wavy reddish-brown bands on the costa of the fore-wings, becoming obsolete towards the dorsum, then a wavy yellowish line, followed by two rust-red patches. The hind-wings resemble those of the male. Both sexes have the veins dotted with black, and the cilia of all the wings are grey barred with black.
The perfect insect was found in a limestone valley at the foot of Mount Peel, where it was fairly common.
CHLOROCLYSTIS NEREIS, Meyr.
(Pasiphila nereis, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xx. 51.)
(Plate [VI]., fig. 11 ♂.)
This insect has occurred at Mount Arthur, Mount Hutt, and the Humboldt Range, Lake Wakatipu, at elevations from 2,500 to 4,000 feet.
The expansion of the wings is nearly an inch. All the wings are dusky grey with numerous black and dull white, wavy transverse lines; there is often a somewhat paler area near the apex of the fore-wings, and the termen of the hind-wings is slightly scalloped; the cilia are dull white barred with dark greyish-black.
The perfect insect appears in January and February. It generally frequents cliffs on mountain sides, resting with outspread wings on the dark rocky surfaces. In these situations it is extremely difficult to detect, and the protective value of its colouring is thus at once demonstrated.
CHLOROCLYSTIS DRYAS, Meyr.
(Pasiphila dryas, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xxiii. 97.)