Art. XXX.—Notice of a New Species of Moth in New Zealand.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 5, 1872, Page 279

Art. XXX.—Notice of a New Species of Moth in New Zealand. By Walter L. Buller, D. Sc., F.L.S., &c. (With Illustration.) [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 6th November, 1872.] During an expedition into the Ruahine ranges in the summer of 1867, in quest of the Huia (Heteralocha acutirostris), I was fortunate enough to discover the fine species of nocturnal moth described below, and figured in Pl. XXII. After a careful examination of the large type collection in the British Museum, I feel no hesitation in referring this new form to the genus Porina, and in giving the species a distinctive name. I have dedicated it to my friend Captain Gilbert Mair, who accompanied me on the occasion referred to. So far as is at present known, the habitat of Porina mairi is confined to the wooded summits of the Ruahine ranges, in the Province of Wellington. I have never met with it during my frequent travels in other parts of the country, nor have I ever seen a specimen in any public or private collection. Bombycina. Family Hepialidœ, Stephens. Genus Porina, Walker. Lep. Het. B.M. VII., p. 1572. (1856.) P. Mairi. sp. nov. Alæ magnæ, sordide testaceæ; anticæ maculis sex marginalibus, albo introrsum cinctis; maculis subseptem, seriem submarginalem formantibus, sagittatis, nigris; septem, quarum quinque superioribis alboaliis testaceocinctis, discalibus; fascia transversa pone has fusca, lituris nigris utrinque limitata; lineis tribus irregularibus nigris, fusco impletis, pone cellam fasciam latam formantibus; macula parva media triangulari alba; nebula irregulari infra cellam pallide ochracea; macula diffusa cellam terminante alba, crucibus duabus nigris interrupta; fasciolis duabus divergentibus discoideis, albo cinctis, tertia apud basin sordide testaceo cincta; plagis tribus inæqualibus internis et maculis duabus sub-basalibus, nigris: posticæ griseæ, area externa fuscescente nigro 8 fasciata: corpus fuscum: exp. alar. circ. unc. 5, lin. 11. Wings large, broad, front-wings produced, ovate-triangular, pale dirty testaceous; six black spots terminating nervures on outer margin, and bounded by a lunated marginal white band; a sub-marginal series of arrow-headed black spots, and beyond these a series of rounded spots, the first four encircled with white, the rest with pale brown; two broken, black discal lines,

filled in with brown; a broad irregular band to below centre of wing, beyond cell, and formed of three black lines with brown interspaces; a triangular white spot below cell and a white patch terminating it and traversed by two black crosses; two diverging black bars surrounded with white in centre of cell, and a third surrounded with dirty testaceous near base; a large irregular patch of pale ochraceous or whitish brown below end of cell, bounded on internal area by three unequally formed patches which together almost form the sides of a large triangle; two small spots near base; hind wings greyish, becoming browner towards outer margin and crossed by eight interrupted black bars; body brown; length of wings about 5 in. 11 lines.