"Head rough-scaled; eyes hairy. AntennÆ in male ciliated. Thorax with or without slight anterior crest. Abdomen not crested.

(Mamestra griseipennis, Feld., pl. cix. 22. Chera virescens, Butl., Cist. Ent. ii. 489. SpÆlotis inconstans, ib. 545; Leucania moderata, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xix. 7 (nec Walk.). Leucania griseipennis, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xx. 44.)

The expansion of the wings is 1½ inches. The fore-wings are dull greenish-grey; there are two obscure blackish transverse lines near the base and several dull white dots; a very conspicuous transverse curved black shade near the middle, followed by an extremely jagged dull white transverse line, another less jagged transverse line near the termen; the orbicular is oval, pale, edged with black; the reniform and claviform are also pale but inconspicuous; the cilia are tinged with brown. The hind-wings are grey with the cilia wholly white.

"Var. A. Thorax and fore-wings without ochreous tinge, with numerous white scales tending to form suffused spots and margins to lines; cilia distinctly barred with darker; hind-wings grey, with dark grey, irregular terminal band."^[10]

"AntennÆ in male strongly bipectinated throughout. Thorax and abdomen smooth."—(Meyrick.)

The expansion of the wings is 1½ inches. The fore-wings are dull blackish-brown, darker near the middle; there is a rather oblique, white, longitudinal stripe below the middle from about one-eighth to one-third; above this there is a very conspicuous, large, elongate white mark; this mark has a semicircular indentation above, probably representing the orbicular; another indentation towards the termen, probably representing the reniform, and below this it emits two short teeth-like projections; beyond these markings the ground colour becomes paler, and is traversed by an obscure, jagged, transverse line; the cilia are grey. The hind-wings are pale grey; the cilia are also grey. The body is dark brownish-black. The pectinations of the antennÆ of this insect are slightly shorter than those in Ichneutica ceraunias.

The expansion of the wings of the male is 1¾ inches, of the female 2 inches. The fore-wings of the male are rich orange-brown, paler towards the base. There are two very broad, longitudinal, yellowish stripes, one on the costa and the other on the dorsum. The costal stripe divides into two branches before its termination, one of which is produced downwards; there is also a conspicuous white mark a little beyond the middle of the wing emitting two tooth-like projections towards the termen, and two narrow, dark brown streaks near the base of the wing. The hind-wings are dark brownish-grey. The head, thorax, and abdomen are yellowish-brown, and the antennÆ are very strongly bipectinated. The female is much narrower in the wings, the ground colouring is dull brown, and the markings are all dull yellow.

The expansion of the wings is nearly two inches. The fore-wings are rich chocolate-brown, with yellow markings outlined in very deep brown; there is a rather broad broken transverse line near the base; a yellow blotch containing a slender curved brown line, on the dorsum at about one-fourth, forming the end of another extremely broken transverse line; the reniform is large, finely outlined with brown towards the base of the wing and half filled in with yellow towards the termen; between the reniform and the dorsum there is a jagged yellow transverse line; there is a terminal series of dark brown streaks and yellow spots, and the termen itself is scalloped; the cilia are dark brown. The hind-wings are pale brown, pinkish tinged; there is an obscure terminal line; the cilia are brownish-pink. The head and thorax are dark brown, the abdomen pale brown, with the crests darker.

The expansion of the wings is about 1½ inches. The fore-wings are dull ochreous more or less shaded with dark reddish-brown, especially in the vicinity of the transverse lines; there are several obscure pale marks near the base; the orbicular is grey, margined towards the dorsum with a conspicuous white or dull yellow crescentic line; the claviform is small, round, dull grey, edged with darker; the reniform is large, darker grey, paler towards the costa, margined with white or dull yellow towards the base of the wing and termen; there are two obscure transverse lines, the outer one often being slightly toothed towards the termen; sometimes there is a terminal series of minute black marks; the cilia are brown. The hind-wings are dark grey, with the cilia white.

The expansion of the wings is 1¼ inches. The fore-wings are dark chocolate-brown; there are several very obscure marks near the base, the orbicular and claviform spots are almost invisible, the reniform is pale brown with a minute dot above and below it towards the termen, followed by a pale, darker-margined, transverse line. The hind-wings are dull brownish-grey, with the cilia paler. The female is rather darker in colour than the male.

This is a very obscurely marked insect, closely allied to the next species, from which it can only be distinguished with difficulty. Its somewhat smaller size and the two minute white dots on the reniform stigma appear to be the most definite characteristics.

(Apamea vitiosa, Butl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1877, 384, pl. xlii. 3. Mamestra ochthistis, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xix. 20. Mamestra vitiosa, Meyr. Trans. N. Z. Inst., xx. 45.)

The expansion of the wings is 1? inches. In general colouration it closely resembles the preceding insect, but is considerably paler, with the markings much more distinct. There are no clear white dots above or below the reniform stigma, the orbicular is obliquely oval and rather conspicuous, and the claviform is strongly margined with black.

The larva is rather robust, very pale green above with numerous white lines and dots; dark green beneath with yellow dots. In the light part there is a triangle of black spots on each segment. The young larva has a strong pink lateral line, but in mature specimens this line is confined to the anterior and posterior segments only. Length when full grown about 1¼ inches.

The expansion of the wings is 1? inches. The fore-wings are reddish-brown; there is a short longitudinal black streak near the base, an obscure yellow transverse line at about one-fourth, and several short oblique brown or yellow marks on the costa; the orbicular is oval oblique outlined very distinctly in yellow; the reniform is white, margined with yellow towards the base of the wing; there is a black longitudinal streak at the base on the dorsum, which bends upwards at about one-fourth, and runs in a somewhat curved direction to a little above the tornus. The veins are faintly marked in black, and there are several large yellow dots between the veins near the termen; the termen itself is slightly indented, the cilia are reddish-brown. The hind-wings are greyish-brown with the cilia reddish. There are two very conspicuous curved yellowish stripes on each side of the thorax.

The expansion of the wings is 1½ inches. The fore-wings are dark chocolate-brown; there is a short, dark-margined, pale transverse line near the base, and another at about one-third, the claviform spot is small, oval, dark brown, margined with black, the orbicular and reniform are very large, pale brown and very conspicuous; there is a broad pale brown terminal band, and a narrow shading of pale brown along the dorsum. The hind-wings are dark grey and the cilia dull white.

The expansion of the wings is about 1? inches. The fore-wings are uniform dark grey; the veins are marked with a series of white dots, preceded and followed by black marks; the orbicular, reniform, and claviform spots are scarcely visible; an indistinct wavy line runs parallel with the termen. The hind-wings are grey; the cilia are white with a cloudy line. The head, thorax, and abdomen are grey.

Sometimes the grey colouring is very much darker, and a faint wavy line is present between the orbicular spot and the base of the wing. In other respects the species does not vary.

The larva is rather attenuated and black in colour; the dorsal line is narrow and bright yellow; the subdorsal is broader and white; and the lateral line is pale brown. The head, legs, prolegs, and under surface are pale brown, speckled with black; the spiracles are pink; a conspicuous white spot is situated above the spiracles.

The expansion of the wings is about 1½ inches. The fore-wings are pale olive-green, mottled and striped with dull grey; there is a double transverse line near the base, another at about one-fourth, and another at about one-half, passing between the orbicular and the reniform; beyond this there are two indistinct shaded lines, and a terminal series of black marks; the orbicular is large, almost circular, and sharply outlined in black; the claviform is small and indistinct, and the reniform ill-defined, obscurely outlined in black towards the base. The hind-wings are brownish-grey, darker towards the termen.

(Cloantha composita, Gn., Noct. vi. 114. Auchmis composita, Walk., Noct. 616; Butl., Voy. Ereb., pl. ix. 12. Mamestra maori, Feld., Reis. Nov., pl. cix. 24. Leucania dentigera, Butl. Mamestra composita, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xix. 22.)

The expansion of the wings is about 1½ inches. The fore-wings are pale reddish-brown, darker towards the middle. There are two elongate, pointed, white markings touching the termen below the middle, and a central white streak, interrupted in the middle, by a small semicircular white mark, which represents the lower portion of the reniform spot; the orbicular and claviform spots are obsolete. The hind-wings are dark grey. The head and thorax are reddish-brown, and the abdomen is dark grey. The antennÆ are serrate in the male but simple in the female. In some specimens the white markings are more extensive than usual, but otherwise there are no important variations.

The larva is bright reddish-brown; the dorsal stripe is broad and black; the subdorsal narrower, edged with white; the lateral lines are dull red, white, and black; the ventral surface, head, legs, and prolegs are greenish-grey with black markings; the spiracles are black.

The expansion of the wings is from 1¼ to 1½ inches. In general appearance it somewhat resembles the preceding species, from which it may chiefly be distinguished by the absence of the sharp white central line and conspicuous tooth-like markings near the termen. There is also a minute white dot situated at the junction of veins 3 and 4 of the fore-wings. The hind-wings are dark grey.

The expansion of the wings is about 1½ inches. The fore-wings are reddish-brown, slightly speckled with dull white except on a suffused central streak from the base to about two-thirds; an obscure, moderately broad white costal streak extends from the base to two-thirds, sharply defined near the base only, and containing several very oblique ill-defined blackish marks; the orbicular is narrow oval, longitudinal, very finely margined with white and then with black; the claviform is obsolete; the reniform is only indicated by two white dots, representing its lower angles; the transverse lines are very acutely dentate but hardly traceable; the subterminal line is indicated only by three very acute slender whitish-ochreous dentations—one below apex, two touching the termen below the middle; the cilia are reddish-brown mixed with dull white. The hind-wings are dark grey; the cilia are dull white, with a faint grey line and tips white. The head, palpi, and thorax are reddish-brown speckled with white; the forehead with two black transverse lines; and the collar with a slender white line; thorax with strong anterior double tuft. Abdomen light reddish-grey.

The expansion of the wings is about 1½ inches. The fore-wings are dark reddish-brown, there is a short black median streak from the base, margined above with ochreous-white; the space between this and the costa is marked with suffused ochreous-whitish lines; in one specimen a blackish suffusion extending from base of the dorsum obliquely to orbicular and reniform, the space between this and the subterminal line is suffused with pale whitish-ochreous; the orbicular and reniform are blackish-fuscous, black-margined, and connected by a blackish-fuscous spot; the orbicular is large, roundish; the reniform with its outer edge white; the claviform is small, suboval, blackish-fuscous; the transverse lines are indistinct; the subterminal is obscurely paler or hardly traceable, with two somewhat acute dentations below the middle; the terminal space is mixed with blackish-fuscous; the cilia are reddish-fuscous mixed with blackish. The hind-wings are fuscous-grey; the cilia grey-whitish, with a grey line.

The expansion of the wings of the ? is 1? 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 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.

The expansion of the wings is 1? inches. The fore-wings are dull brown with a pale area on the dorsum near the base, and a very broad pale band just before the termen; there is a broken black-edged transverse line near the base, and a fainter transverse line at about one-third; the orbicular is oblong, the claviform crescentic, and the reniform oblong, white, and very conspicuous, all are strongly outlined in black; there is a shaded transverse line on each side of the broad pale terminal band; the termen is dark brown; the cilia are brown, and the veins are marked in black. The hind-wings are pale grey; there is a rather conspicuous dark crescent in the middle, and two shaded transverse lines; the cilia are grey.

The expansion of the wings is 1¾ inches. The fore-wings are brown; there is a shaded, pale yellowish-brown, longitudinal line on the costa, and an extensive irregular patch of the same colour from about two-thirds to within a short distance of the termen; the orbicular is large, oval, oblique, pale yellowish-brown; the claviform is semicircular, broadly margined with black; the reniform is dull grey, with one large and one small white mark towards the termen; the termen is broadly shaded with dark blackish-brown, except near the apex of the wing and a little below the middle. The hind-wings are dark brownish-grey, with the cilia reddish-brown. The female is rather paler with a slightly olive tinge. Both sexes vary a little in the depth of their colouring.

The expansion of the wings is 1¾ inches. The fore-wings are pale ochreous-brown; there are several wavy brown transverse lines near the base, two lines at about one-third, then a large V-shaped white mark extending almost from the costa and touching the dorsum; the orbicular and reniform spots are situated in the middle of this mark, the orbicular is very finely outlined in brown, and contains a black dot towards the base of the wing; the reniform is large, dark brown, surrounded by a large triangular dark brown shading; there is an obscure subterminal line; the termen is slightly indented. The hind-wings are dark brown, paler towards the termen.

The expansion of the wings is about 1? inches. The fore-wings are pale orange-brown, the orbicular and claviform spots are faintly margined with reddish-brown; the reniform is dark brown and very conspicuous; there are two large reddish-brown markings on the termen. The hind-wings are dark grey tinged with red. The cilia of all the wings are reddish-brown.

The expansion of the wings is 1½ inches. The fore-wings are greyish-cream-colour, slightly paler on the costa. There are two very distinct blackish transverse marks on the costa near the base, and two others at about one-third; the stigmata are all sharply and finely outlined in black; the orbicular is oval, the claviform triangular, the reniform large and oblong, containing a smaller black-edged mark in its centre, and a blackish blotch towards its lower margin; beyond the reniform there is a faint jagged transverse line; there are two dark patches on the termen, the pale ground colour forming two sharp tooth-like markings slightly below the middle; the termen itself is slightly indented, and the cilia are dark brown. The hind-wings are dark grey with the cilia white.

The expansion of the wings is 1? inches. The fore-wings are very pale brownish-cream-colour; there is a large irregular dark brown patch on the dorsum from about one-eighth to about two-thirds, another smaller patch at the tornus, and another still smaller on the termen a little above the middle; there are two very obscure transverse lines; the orbicular is finely outlined in brown; the reniform contains two very dark brown dots, and is rather strongly outlined in brown towards the base. The hind-wings are dark grey. The cilia of all the wings are grey with a paler line.

The expansion of the wings is about 1¾ inches. The fore-wings, head, and thorax are pinkish-grey in the male, pale grey in female; the orbicular spot is rather large, nearly round, finely outlined in black; the reniform is very large, margined with black towards the base of the wing, and usually touching the orbicular spot or connected with it by a short black line; the claviform is triangular, also black margined; there is a cloudy oblique line below the reniform, and an irregular line between the reniform and the termen. The hind-wings and abdomen are pale pinkish-grey in male, dull grey in female; the cilia are white with a cloudy line.

The expansion of the wings of the male is 1? inches, of the female 1¾ inches. The fore-wings are rather pale yellowish-brown, with numerous irregular longitudinal grey streaks; there are several very obscure jagged transverse lines, and the stigmata are almost invisible; a very broad blackish longitudinal band is situated on the dorsum. The hind-wings are brownish-grey; the cilia are grey tipped with white. The head and thorax are grey tinged with yellowish-brown; there is a conspicuous blackish streak on each side of the thorax.

The expansion of the wings is about 1½ inches. The fore-wings are pale silvery-grey; there are several obscure blackish marks near the base, two dark, shaded, transverse bands, one just before the orbicular, and one between the orbicular and the reniform; the orbicular is round, nearly white, with a faint greyish ring in the middle; the reniform is large, oblong, margined first with white and then with black; there is a series of black crescentic marks near the termen, and another smaller series on the termen; the cilia are dark grey. The hind-wings are dull brownish-grey, the cilia are grey tipped with white. The terminal joint of the palpi is elongated.

(Xylocampa cucullina, Gn., Ent. Mo. Mag. v. 40. Agrotis mitis, Butl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1877, 383, pl. xlii. 5. Mamestra cucullina, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xix. 28.)

The expansion of the wings is 1? inches. The fore-wings are bluish-grey, speckled and dappled with blackish-brown; there is a pale transverse line near the base, partially edged with black; the orbicular is round, containing a blackish dot in the middle; the reniform is elongate-oval, including a dark spot in its lower portion; the space surrounding the stigmata is clouded with dark blackish-brown; there is a terminal series of small blackish crescentic marks, and the cilia are dark grey. The hind-wings are brownish-grey; the cilia are also grey tipped with white.