Australian insects

The Genus Termissa contains a number of smaller pretty little moths flying low and hiding among the foliage; about 10 species are well known. Termissa shepherdi, slightly over 1 inch across the wings, has the fore pair broad at the tips, is blackish brown, with 3 irregular yellow transverse bars; the hind pair yellow, with two rounded marks on the outer margin. T. nivosa is a smaller moth of a delicate creamy white, with the front and outer margins of the fore wings delicately edged with dark yellow and black, and with two indistinct spots on the front margin; there is a small dot on each hind wing. Anderson says about Melbourne the larvae are to be found under the bark of gum trees in August. Clauca rubricosta measures 1 inch across the wings; is of a general blackish tint with the palpi and collar behind the head dull red, a slender costal stripe of reddish yellow along the fore wings, and a yellow spot on the centre of the inner margin forming a distinctive mark when the wings are folded; the hind pair are pale yellow with dark edges. The Genus Mosoda contains several moths whose larvae feed upon moss and lichens on the surface of the rocks about Sydney. Mosoda anartoides, under 1 inch across the wings, has the fore pair dark brown, delicately mottled; the hind pair dull orange yellow irregularly edged with brown. M. consolatrix, a smaller moth, has the fore wings greyish mottled brown; the hind pair pale buff. M. jocularis is slightly smaller, pale buff yellow; the fore wings tipped and speckled with black and the outer tips of the hind pair clouded with brown. The Genus Comarchis contains 8 described species, all small moths; C. aspectatella is under 1 inch across the wings, the fore pair grey barred with yellow, and the hind pair pale ochreous; it is common in January on Mt. Kosciusko; Eutane terminalis and Asura lydia are two little black moths thickly mottled with dark orange yellow forming bars and spots on the fore wings; the hind wings of the former are yellow in the centre, thickly margined with black; in A. lydia the yellow of the hind wings is divided in the centre by a black band. The larvae feed upon moss. The larvae of the Speckled Footman (Deiopeia pulchella) feed upon the forget-me-not; it is of a bright leaden colour, with a white stripe down the back and red spots on the sides of the segments. The moth has a very wide range over the world, and has probably spread from Europe. I have generally taken these moths on the grassy flats close to the sea shore; it is a slender winged creamy white moth, the fore wings mottled with black and red spots, and the hind pair irregularly edged with black. Nola metallopa is a silvery grey moth with the fore wings marked with darker coppery tints. The curious hairy larva feeds upon the foliage of young gum trees; when it moults the skin of the head remains attached to the hairs above the head, forming a regular crest.

The members of the small family Hypsidae, chiefly found in the tropics, are represented in this country by 4 genera containing about 18 species. They differ from the last in the venation of the hind wings, and are medium sized brown or yellow moths.

Nyctemera amica is one of our commonest species with a wide range from Victoria to Queensland; it may be found flying about or resting on flowers at all times of the year. The larvae, marked with black and red and furnished with tufts projecting on either side of the head, feed upon the “native ivy” (Senecio scandens). The moth is of a general blackish brown tint; the fore-wings are mottled with two irregular pale yellow blotches forming a transverse bar toward the tips; each of the hind pair has a more regular blotch in the centre.

Family 11. Brown Tails.
LIPARIDAE.

These are the “Tussock” moths of America, and the “Vapourers,” “Brown-tails,” and “Black-arches” of English collectors; some of ours are known as “Bag-shelter moths” from the curious silken bags the gregarious larvae spin, in which they shelter during the day and come out at night to feed upon the foliage. The typical “Brown-tails” are stout, thickset moths with rather long hairy fore-legs generally stretched out in front when resting; the antennae are pectinate in both sexes, and the abdomen is tipped with tufts of downy hairs; in some species the females are wingless. They lay their eggs in clusters on the under-side of the leaves, covering them over with a felted mass of the hairs from the tip of the abdomen.

The famous “Gypsy Moth,” common in Europe, belongs to this group; it was introduced into the State of Massachusetts, where it has multiplied so enormously that it has become a regular plague, and though hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent in fighting it, it is still a serious pest. Porthesia obsoleta, one of our typical species, measures about 1½ inches across the wings, and is pure white with a black body tipped with golden brown hairs. It was described by Donovan in 1815 in his “Insects of New Holland,” and is more common in Victoria than New South Wales. Trichetra marginalis is a moth with a wingless female; the male is a little larger than the last species; is of a uniform greyish brown colour, with the outer edges of the fore wings white, and the hind pair pale brown. The larva feeds upon the foliage of gum trees.

Plate XXV.—LEPIDOPTERA.

Family Psychidae.

The Genus Teara contains over 20 named species of the “Bag-shelter Moths,” with gregarious larvae. Teara contraria, one of the largest species, measures up to 2½ inches across the wings; it is of a general dark brown tint with a small white spot in the centre of each wing; the thorax thickly clothed with long lance-shaped plumes yellow at the tips; and the abdomen rich orange yellow barred with black. The caterpillars are thickly clothed with long hairs, and when they take up a position on the branch of their food tree (generally a eucalypt or wattle) they spin a silken bag, drawing the leaves and twigs together, but not acting like the “Leaf-rollers,” for the silk forms a regular felted brown covering which soon becomes full of their excrement and cast skins, among which they rest during the day. They trail out at night in a regular procession and often strip all the foliage of the tree. When full grown they crawl down the trunk and pupate in loose open cocoons (formed from their body hairs) buried in the ground, and the large liver-coloured silken bag remains long after they have deserted it. This species in some districts makes its home upon wattles, but in other localities attacks the eucalypts in a similar manner. Teara tristis is not more than 1¼ inches across the wings, and varies from blackish brown to silvery grey; the fore wings are marbled with white and yellow and a light circular spot in front; the hind ones are nearly black with a minute white spot in the centre; the head and thorax are grey; the abdomen black, barred and tipped with orange; it is common in Victoria and N.S. Wales, generally clinging to some low bush, and slow and sluggish in its movements. Teara melanostica is larger than the last; silvery grey, spotted, with the front edge and transverse bar black; hind wings yellow edged with brown; head and thorax silvery white, hind portion dark brown; abdomen barred, and tipped with yellow. The larvae feed upon the leptospermum bushes, and form soft loose cocoons. Ptilomacra senex is a large handsome moth about 3 inches across the straight, square-cut fore wings; is of a general dark brown colour with wavy irregular dark lines and scattered grey scales giving it a greyish tint. It is remarkable for its large feathery antennae.

Apina callisto is a brightly mottled yellow and brown moth that flies about in the daylight. Its curious hairy larvae feed upon the open grass lands, and are often very numerous. It has a wide range over Australia.

Chelepteryx collesi is one of our largest bat-like moths, measuring to 6 inches across the wings; it is of a uniform dark brown colour with an irregular marbled pattern upon the wings; but it varies much in size and pattern in the sexes. Where common they may be often seen fluttering round the street lamps in the suburbs of Sydney, N.S.W. This handsome moth was first taken to England by a Mr. Colles, after whom Grey described it (Trans. Ent. Soc. 1835). The caterpillars are great, reddish brown creatures, thickly clothed with stout spiny bristles, feeding on the small white stemmed eucalypts, and often found crawling over the rocks and fences. They spin long silken cocoons, and as they pupate force all the body spines through the silk, making the cocoon a very awkward thing to handle, for the fine spines are easily detached, and sticking into the fingers cause a very unpleasant itching.

The Genus Darala is peculiar to Australia; about 30 species have been described; their larvae are short, thick, black, hairy caterpillars often found crawling about in the gardens, and constructing soft fluffy or white silken cocoons attached to the foliage. Darala ocellata, one of our commonest species, measures 1½ inches across the wings, and is of a uniform brownish fawn colour, with two black spots in the middle of the fore wings and a pattern of spots or parallel black lines in the central portion. Darala acuta is slightly larger, with very variable markings upon a general greyish fawn to dull yellow ground; the fore wings are broad with an acute point at the extremity. The Wattle-moth, Teia anartoides, which in the larval state often appears in the orchards and destroys the apple-tree foliage, is sometimes very abundant. The larvae are short brown hairy grubs with a tuft of hairs standing out in front on either side of the head, and several stiff brushes of grey hairs upon the centre of the back. The males are much smaller than the females, and in the pupal state when hanging up in their loose flimsy cocoons can be easily distinguished. The adult female is wingless, simply crawling on to the top of her cocoon to lay her eggs and die. The male is a handsome little moth about 1 inch across the wings; the fore pair are dark brown marbled with slender lines and black spots, the hind pair bright yellow surrounded with black, and the outer edges yellow; the antennae are large and feather-like.

Ocinara lewinae is a handsome light reddish brown moth with darker lines running round the wings. It was described by Lewin in 1803, who figured it in colours and called it the “Hook Tip.” The larva is a slender caterpillar covered with fine hairs. They are gregarious, and web the leaves of the eucalypts together with a loose, open, silken strand.

Family 12. Silkworm Moths.
BOMBYCIDAE.

In this group I include several families that may be broadly placed together as typical silkworm moths. Some writers divide them into three families; Packard on the other hand adds a number of other well defined groups, such as the Psychidae, Arctiidae, and others, to the Bombycidae.

Typical silkworm moths have thick heavy bodies, with small heads furnished with pectinate antennae and an imperfect mouth; the wings are large and often falcate. The larvae are usually fleshy thickset caterpillars covered with scattered tubercles, and are of somewhat sluggish habits; but all form stout silken cocoons. Our silkworm moths are more closely related to the Atlas moths of India, Saturnidae, than to the silkworm moth of domestic fame, Bombyx mori, which, originally a native of China, is now bred and cultivated in many parts of the world for commercial silk.

Bombyx trimacula measures 1¾ inches across the wings; it is a dark brown moth, mottled and marbled with white on the head, thorax, and tip of the abdomen, and forming a delicate wavy pattern across the fore wings interspersed with some blackish markings; it is found in Victoria. Odonestis australasiae has been known under many different names: Lewin called it Bombyx nasuta, and his specific name was much more appropriate than the former, as it has the head produced into a regular point in front. The larger female measures about 2 inches across the wings, which are of a uniform dull reddish brown colour with faint markings on the fore wings; the hind ones are of a lighter tint. The short hairy caterpillars have a tuft of hairs standing out on either side of the head; in their natural state they feed upon the foliage of the black wattle, forming white silken cocoons, attached to the plant. It is sometimes called the “Long-nosed Wattle Moth,” and in Victoria is said to turn its attention to the apple-tree foliage. Pinara despecta is a large, handsome, reddish fawn moth, with fore wings ornamented with several zig-zag bands across the centre. It is a thickset moth, often measuring over 3 inches across the wings. The larva feeds upon the foliage of the eucalyptus, and is a very slender caterpillar of a general greyish brown tint, with the sides of the body fringed with fine downy hairs, and when it is resting the fringes lie along the twig so closely that it is very hard to detect. It spins a large silken cocoon tinted with pink, attached to the leaves of the gum trees. Cosmotriche exposita is a pretty little thickset moth of a uniform greyish brown tint, covered with fine soft downy hairs round the body and hind wings; the fore pair are thickly mottled with dark brown; the larger female measures about 1½ inches across the wings; the smaller male is a much darker brown insect with fine mottled fore wings. The caterpillar feeds upon the foliage of the “she-oak” (Casuarina), and is a slender greyish creature lightly clothed with grey hairs, marked with yellow and carmine on the sides of each segment, and black marks on the back. It forms an elongate oval cocoon attached to the twigs.

The second group, Notodontidae, are known as “Prominents” to English collectors from the curious angular form of the caterpillars, though this is not noticeable in our typical forms. The Banksia Moth, Danima banksiae, was named by Lewin after its food plant, though it feeds equally upon the Hakea bushes. It is a very handsome moth, nearly 3 inches across the wings, which are of a general slate brown tint; the thorax and tip of abdomen are thickly blotched with white, which is also sprinkled over the body and fore wings in the form of little white scales; the central portion of the abdomen is orange yellow. The caterpillar is a rather slender, cylindrical, ochreous brown creature with the tip of the body lead colour, and the whole surface irregularly blotched with white spots encircled with black, forming irregular bands round each segment. They are generally found feeding in groups of three or four, and when disturbed turn both the head and tip of the abdomen over the back, and protrude two red fleshy filaments from the under-surface of the first segment.

The Saturnidae are our most important group for size and colour, and an immense fellow, Coxinocera hercules, is found in Cape York. Another very beautiful Chinese species, Attacus cynthia, which feeds on the foliage of Ailanthus glandulosa, has been accidentally introduced into Australia, and is sometimes taken about the Sydney gardens.

The Genus Antheraea contains some of our finest moths; others are found in Japan and India that yield a strong brown silk. Our commonest species, Antheraea eucalypti, is variable both in colour and size, ranging from delicate fawn to dull brick red, and is from 4 to 5½ inches across the wings, which in the male are smaller and narrower behind; each wing is ornamented with a circular eye-spot in the centre, those on the hind pair being larger and ringed with black, with narrow irregular dark bands running round or across the hind margin. The tip of the fore wings in the smaller males is rounded, corrugated, and touched with pink. The large green caterpillar, covered with scattered tubercles tipped with clusters of retractile red and blue spines, feeds upon the foliage of eucalypts, but has acquired a taste for the foliage of the cultivated pepper tree (Schinus mollis). It constructs a stout, hard, dark brown cocoon in which it pupates, and is furnished with a curious spine at the base of the fore wings, which enables the moth to cut her way out through the tough cocoon when ready to emerge. A. helena, very similar in general appearance to the former, is slightly larger, with broader wings of a more uniform reddish brown colour, without a white mark on the fore wings; the inner bands are more irregular and rounded, with the parallel bar not continued into the hind wings. A. simplex is a smaller species varying in colour from pale yellow to reddish brown, with smaller eye-spots, those upon the hind wings somewhat oval, broadly marked along the costal nervure; the parallel bar and band on each hind wing are very narrow, and both pairs are wrinkled at the tips. The black and yellow caterpillars are very common at times in the Richmond and Clarence River scrubs, N.S. Wales, and more gregarious in their habits, often covering the bushes with their light coloured rather flimsy cocoons, which are very subject to the attacks of ichneumons. A. janetta is about the same size as A. eucalypti, but with flatter broader wings of a much duller reddish brown tint without any eye-spots, and only a simple white spot in the centre of each of the fore pair; two fine irregular lines run round the outer half of both pairs with an extra row of small spots along the hind wings. The larva forms a hard shell-like cocoon on the trunks of the she-oaks. A. loranthiae, described by Lucas from North Queensland, is a large handsome reddish moth, the larvae of which when pupating form their cocoons in a mass on the top of a stump or branch.

Family 13. Loopers.
GEOMETRIDAE.

In this family there are a number of handsome delicate moths with slender bodies, large flattened wings often toothed round the edges, which when the insects are at rest (usually upon the under surface of leaves) are pressed flat and spread out like a fan against the surface. The caterpillars are slender cylindrical creatures, green or brown in tint and so imitative of the twigs or foliage among which they feed, that it is possible to pick off a branch upon which a caterpillar is resting without observing the creature until it moves; they are furnished with the usual six legs on the thoracic segments close behind the head, and two pairs of abdominal legs near the anal claspers, so that they have legs at each end, and when moving along they draw the hind portion of the body up to the head before the front legs are moved: thus at every step forward the body is arched up into a semicircle, from which habit they are popularly known as “Loopers.” The best method of collecting the moths and their caterpillars is by beating or shaking the low scrub in the early morning; and the latter are very easily bred in captivity if supplied with material from their food plants. These moths are well represented in Australia; most of the earlier species have been described by Walker and Guérin (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W.). Meyrick has classified and described a great number of species of this family in a series of papers entitled “A Revision of Australian Lepidoptera,” which the student will find in the volumes dating from 1886 to 1891.

The Genus Euchloris contains a number of beautiful moths with delicate pale green wings frequently marbled with white lace-like tracery. Meyrick (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1887) lists 43 species; and Lower, in his “Catalogue of Victorian Heterocera,” published in the “Victorian Naturalist,” lists 15 as Victorian species; but some of these have a wide range.

Euchloris submissaria measures about 1½ inches across the outspread wings; its general colour is rich deep green, with the antennae, front margin of each fore wing, outer edges of both pairs of wings, a central stripe on the thorax and body, and the legs creamy buff white. The caterpillar is of the usual cylindrical form, varying from dull buff to light brown, and it feeds upon the foliage of the black wattle.

Crypsiphona occultaria measures nearly 2 inches across the wings, and is of a uniform light greyish brown on the upper surface, very finely banded in irregular circles; but the under surface is pearly white, spotted on the fore wings with black, crimson and brown; the hind ones are banded with brown and crimson. It has a very wide range, and has a habit of resting against weather-worn posts and walls, its outspread wings matching the colour of its surroundings. The larva feeds upon the foliage of the gum trees, and is of a uniform dull green tint, striped down the sides, the head pointed in front; the whole caterpillar looks wonderfully like a eucalyptus twig.

The Genus Selidosema contains a large number of cosmopolitan species; Meyrick lists 29 species as Australian; they are usually grey or brown with darker lines and blotches. Selidosema lyciaria is one of our largest species, measuring about 2 inches across the wings; is of a uniform brownish grey, with both pairs of wings marbled in a regular pattern with black and chocolate brown, and crenulated round the edges. The larvae feed upon the black wattle, and vary much in colour, from grey to dark brown; the head is curiously notched, and there are two little projections upon the back by which they can be easily identified. S. excursaria has a range from S. Australia to N.S. Wales, and is one of our commonest species; it measures 1½ inches across the wings, and is of a uniform dull greyish tint, very finely pencilled with darker transverse markings, but is somewhat variable in colour. The caterpillars are of a general light brown colour, with the sides pencilled with fine parallel white lines running down the whole length of the body; they are said to feed upon a number of different plants, but are common on the wattles. S. canescaria, slightly larger than the last, has a dull grey tint, thickly mottled with dark brown wavy lines; it ranges from S. Australia to Queensland. Another species, S. acaciaria, is a little larger, of somewhat similar colour, with whitish markings; it is common in this country, and is also found in India, Ceylon, and S. Africa.

Lophodes sinistraria is slightly over 2 inches in the large females; the sexes vary much in size and colour. They are of a general dark chocolate brown tint blotched with grey along the front of the fore wings, with a distinct row of short grey stripes round the hind wings in a line with the dentate crenulations. It has a wide range over Victoria and Eastern Australia. The larvae feed upon the foliage of the black wattle, but I have also recorded them damaging the foliage of young apricot trees. They are reddish brown caterpillars, covered with transverse bands of darker coloured spots, and they measure about 1½ inches in length.

The Genus Thalaina contains 5 described species, all of which are very handsome moths easily separated from the other loopers. T. clara measures 1½ inches across the wings; it is of a uniform pearly white, with the fore wings marked with regular transverse bands of reddish brown forming the letter W when viewed from the side; the hind pair have only a blackish blotch on the outer edge. It has a wide range, and in the larval state feeds upon wattles. T. inscripta is about the same size, with a similar ground colour of white, but the markings on the fore-wings form a less perfect W, and there is a row of short bars of the same colour round the edges; the hind pair are more deeply blotched. It has a wide range from Tasmania over the south and eastern portion of Australia. Gastrophora henricaria is a large handsome moth, in which the sexes differ both in size and colouration; the smaller brown male has bright orange hind wings, and very fine feathered antennae; the female has the fore wings mottled but not striped. The slender dark brown striped larva, according to Anderson (Victorian Naturalist 1902) feeds upon the foliage of eucalyptus.

Family 14. Cutworm Moths.
NOCTUIDAE.

This from an economic point of view is a very important family, for the cut-worms do an immense amount of damage to pasturage and gardens. These moths are of medium size with stout bodies; their fore wings generally speaking are narrow, stiff, and triangular, with the broader rounded hind ones folded beneath; the antennae are only slightly toothed in the males of a few species, and the mouth is produced into a tubular proboscis with which they can suck the nectar out of the flowers. In colouration they vary from bright brown to black, a few being marked with white or metallic tints; they are nocturnal in their habits, resting under bark, rocks or other sheltered places, and at night often flying into the lighted lamps. The larvae, which are known as “cut-worms,” “plague caterpillars,” and “army worms,” are usually elongate, dull brown, or greenish, naked caterpillars of a uniform thickness with 8 pairs of legs. When full grown they pupate underground, forming no regular cocoon, though a few groups form a flimsy silken one attached to their food plant.

The world wide Genus Agrotis contains a number of variable forms whose larvae are typical “cut-worms,” hiding in the ground or under rubbish during the day, and coming out at night to feed. The short stout moths have the head scaly; the fore wings black to grey, the hind pair always lighter coloured; the antennae of the males are slightly pectinate.

The “Bugong Moth,” Agrotis infusa, has gone under many different specific names, and is quite an historical insect. It is a dark brown moth, the fore wings marked with two parallel black lines, two dull grey spots in the centre and wavy lines at the extremities; the hind pair are light brown. These moths frequently appear in immense swarms, and take their popular name from the Bugong Mountains among the rocks of which they used to congregate in millions; they formed an important food supply to the natives who used to sweep them off into their bags, and after denuding them of their wings and scales over a small fire, pound the bodies (at this time distended with eggs) into a dough or paste. Dr. Bennett has given an interesting account of this in his “Naturalist in Australia.” A rather curious error regarding this Bugong Moth has crept into popular natural history books. In the Rev. J. G. Wood’s “Insects Abroad,” he figures and describes a butterfly, Euploea hamata, as the Bugong Moth; Aflalo in his “Natural History of Australia” makes the same statement, and in a recent magazine article on “Insects as Food” Theodore Wood repeats the same error.

Scott (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1867) gives an account of an appearance of Bugong Moths in Sydney, when they were so numerous one Sunday morning at North Shore that the service at St. Thomas’ Church could not be held, and some observant persons counted 80,000 moths on the windows. They have appeared at irregular intervals about Sydney and the coastal districts in similar swarms, the last time being in 1905.

Agrotis breviuscula is a smaller variable species ranging from reddish brown to grey; the antennae are long; the fore wings have a dark spot of irregular form in the centre, a few fine dots along the edge, and a fine line round the tips; the hind wings are light brown. Agrotis ypsilon is not unlike the “Bugong Moth” and by some writers is considered only a large variety, but it has a distinct mark like the Greek letter e in the centre of the fore wings, the tips finely marbled with wavy lines; and the light brown hind wings give a metallic sheen.

Leucania unipuncta is one of the most destructive caterpillars found in North America, where it is known as the “Army worm,” devouring crops, grass, and garden stuff. Though the moth has been known for many years in Australia it was not until 1903–4 that it was observed as a plague caterpillar, attacking crops and grass nearly all over Eastern Australia. The caterpillars, 1¼ inches long, are dull olive green with light stripes down the back and sides. The moth measures 1½ inches across the wings, which are of a uniform reddish fawn colour finely speckled with little black scales.

The “Boll Worm,” or “Maize Moth,” Heliothis armigera, is another cosmopolitan cut-worm which does a great deal of damage to cotton bolls and maize; is common in the pea crops, and also damages tomatoes. The moth measures about 1 inch across the wings; the fore pair are greyish yellow with purplish-brown tints, but are very variable in colouration; the hind wings are silvery grey with the apical portions dark brown; the latter pair are constant in their markings.

The handsome little moths belonging to the Genus Thalpochares are remarkable for their curious plump naked larvae, which feed upon different kinds of scale insects, at the same time covering themselves with a portable cocoon composed of fragments of the coccids matted together with silken strands. Thalpochares coccophaga is a pretty creamy winged moth with the basal portion shaded with brown and reddish tints, and measures about ¾ of an inch across the wings. The larvae feed upon a number of different insects native to the bush, and have lately been of some economic value in destroying olive scale (Lecanium oleae) in the orchards. Several other species have been described with identical habits. Earias fabia is a pest of the cotton plant; I have bred numbers obtained in the cotton bolls growing at the Hawkesbury College, N.S.W.; the larva is a slender dull green grub, which when full grown forms a stout, oval, light brown, felted cocoon attached to the dead foliage. The moth is slightly over one inch across the wings, which are of a uniform pale yellow colour, each with a greenish bar in the centre; the hind pair are lighter. In forming such a well-made cocoon this moth seems out of place in the Noctuids; and Lower says in his Catalogue, “that some writers refer this moth to the Bombycina.” Westwood and Swinhoe place it in the Tortricidae.

The Genus Hadena contains a number of Australian species rather more abundant in Tasmania than the mainland; it is another cosmopolitan group, found in Europe and America. Hadena expulsa, slightly over 1 inch across the wings, has the fore pair of a general grey tint, mottled with brown; the hind pair are darkest towards the apex and are fringed on the margin with fine white down.

Mamestra ewingii is typical of another large world wide genus. Its larvae are among our most destructive cut-worms to crops and grass: it is a pale slate-coloured moth, marked with short parallel lines of a darker tint on the tips of the wings. Spodoptera exempta was figured in the Agricultural Gazette 1898 under the name of Phlegetona carbo. It is one of our climbing cut-worms, and in that year the caterpillars swarmed all over the Camden and South Coast districts of N.S. Wales. They are very active grubs, olive green to almost black in colour, striped on the sides with fine yellow lines; and when full grown measure 1½ inches in length. The moth is under 1½ inches across the wings; is of a general dark brown tint, indistinctly mottled all over the fore wings with yellowish or sometimes silvery grey scales; the hind wings are silvery and semitransparent.

Prodenia littoralis is a handsome moth of about the same dimensions as the last; the fore wings are dark brown finely striped and pencilled with grey lines; the hind pair pearly white. The moth often lays her eggs upon the foliage of apple and other trees; the young on hatching out feed upon the foliage but afterwards make their way to the ground. Plusia verticillata is a species that feeds upon the foliage of peas, beans, and potatoes; the slender pale green grub differs from the typical “cut-worm” in moving about like a “looper,” and when full grown pupates in a flimsy silken cocoon it spins upon the under surface of the leaf. The moth, measuring 1½ inches across the wings, has the fore pair brown tinted with mauve, marbled with a coppery tint, and with two elongate oval spots of silvery white scales in the centre of each, and fine lines behind; the hind wings are dark brown fringed with grey down. Plusia argentifera is a smaller form with a silvery mark in the centre of each fore wing. The handsome dark brown caterpillar of Calogramma festiva, which was figured by Donovan in his “Insects of New Holland,” feeds upon the foliage of the Crinea lilies; they are sometimes plentiful in the Botanic Gardens. This moth measures 1½ inches across the wings, and is of a uniform pale creamy-yellow colour, thickly mottled on the base of the wings with red and black.

We now come to a curious allied group, the Ophiderinae, the members of which are known as the “Orange-piercing moths”; they are large handsome insects with the head and thorax thickly clothed with scales forming a regular crest, and furnished with a proboscis which, pointed and barbed at the tip, enables them to thrust it through the rind of oranges and other ripe fruit and suck up the juice. Tryon has figured and written an interesting account of these moths in the Queensland Agricultural Journal Vol. ii. 1898.

Maenas salaminia measures 3½ inches across the wings; the fore pair are bright olive green, with a broad stripe of creamy white along the anterior margins; the hind wings are an orange yellow colour, and each with the margin and centre black. The thorax is bright olive green, and the abdomen of an orange yellow colour. It ranges from the northern parts of New South Wales to North Queensland, and at Cairns I used to capture them at night with a net and bull’s-eye lantern, as they hovered round bunches of ripe bananas hanging under the house. Othreis fullonica, slightly larger than the last, has the fore wings mottled with grey and brown among the olive green; the body and hind wings are of the same rich orange colour as the former species, with smaller black markings on the hind margins. This species ranges from Queensland to Africa, India, Ceylon, and the New Hebrides. Argadesa materna is about the same size, but has lighter coloured fore wings, and further distinguished by a much smaller black spot in the centre of each hind wing. The caterpillars of these moths are large handsome cylindrical creatures with the body humped up at the eleventh segment, and two large spots like eyes on either side of the body. They feed upon several different creepers in the scrub.

The Erebidae contains a number of large dark brown moths often curiously mottled with zig-zag lines running round the wings, and a dull coloured eye-spot in the centre of each fore wing. Several species are common in Australia; they often come into the house at night and will be found resting on the ceiling in the morning. One of the largest moths known, the great owl moth of Brazil, measuring a foot across the wings, belongs to this family. Dasypodia selenophora measures 3 inches across the wings, and is of a uniform pale chocolate brown tint; the outer margins of the wings are finely crenulated and spotted with white; the centre of each fore wing has a large irregular eye-spot of black, mauve and orange tints. It ranges from Australia to Tasmania and New Zealand. D. cymatoides, about the same size, is of a much darker brown colour, with less distinct eye-spots, a black transverse band behind each white one, and the whole of the inner surface thickly covered with zig-zag wavy lines. This species ranges from Sydney to North Queensland.

Sericea spectans is a slightly larger moth not unlike the last, but a little darker, with the transverse band thicker and more blurred, and with an eye-spot on each hind as well as each fore wing.

Plate XXVI.—LEPIDOPTERA.

Family Ophiderinae.

Family Noctuina.

3. Sericea spectans (Guérin).

(Original photo. Burton.)]

Family 15. Leaf Rollers.
PYRALIDAE.

These moths are a very interesting division of the smaller lepidoptera on account of the habits of their larvae, which live upon the foliage of different plants in small communities, matting and drawing the leaves together with silken strands and feeding under the shelter thus constructed; when ready to pupate they usually curl the remains of one of the half-devoured leaves into a flimsy cocoon with a little silk, from which the moth emerges later on in the season.

The majority of these moths are small and unattractive; at the same time we have some brightly green and yellow tinted species of medium size. The caterpillars are slender naked larvae, often green marked with black spots and a few scattered hairs; they are very active and drop to the ground whenever disturbed.

These moths are easily separated by specialists from the preceding groups by the structure of the nervures of the hind wings. Several specialists have undertaken their classification: Meyrick (Trans. Ent. Soc. London 1890) placed them as a group containing 8 families: Ragonet (Ann. Ent. Soc. France 1890), while restricting them to 2 families, made 17 smaller divisions which he called tribes: Lower, who partly follows Meyrick, gives 13 families in his “Catalogue”; I simply deal with them here as a group, describing a number of typical forms with their life histories.

Margarodes vertonalis is a handsome bright green moth, with the margins of the outer edges of both pairs of wings marked with dark reddish brown; it measures about 1½ inches across the wings. The caterpillars, about an inch in length, are bright green mottled with black; the head shining reddish brown. My specimens were collected in the Botanical Gardens, Sydney, at the end of January; they were matting the tips of the branches of one of the ornamental shrubs (Ochrosia moorei) into irregular rounded masses. They pupated a week later and emerged before the end of the month.

Sceliodes cordalis, measuring slightly over 1 inch across the wings, is of a uniform creamy tint; the whole of the fore wings are mottled with light brown, the tips blotched with the same colour; and the hind pair more spotted; my specimens were bred from the foliage of the egg plant.

Asopia farinalis is the well known “meal moth” common, in most parts of the world; the caterpillars feed upon all kinds of corn, bran, pollard, and flour; it mats its food particles together with a silken web into a tube in which it hides. The moth is often found upon the walls of feed houses, mills, &c., and sometimes comes into the light at night. It measures 1 inch across the wings, and has a ground colour of yellow buff to dull greyish yellow, blotched with a darker tint at the base and tip, the latter marbled with grey; the hind wings are silvery. Zinckenia recurvalis is a common little moth about Sydney; it is under 1 inch across the wings, which are of a dark brown tint, with a white bar traversing the centre of each wing, and with a second white spot on each fore wing towards the tip. The caterpillars are sometimes found destructive to salt-bush hedges about Sydney by stripping off the foliage and causing the bushes to die back.