Art. XVII.—On the Occurrence of Vanessa atalanta and Plusia festucæ in Southland.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 36, 1903, Page 161

Art. XVII.—On the Occurrence of Vanessa atalanta and Plusia festucæ in Southland. By Alfred Philpott. [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 5th August, 1903.] Early in April of this year I had an opportunity of examining a collection of Lepidoptera formed by Mr. Robert Dunlop, manager of the Orepuki Oil and Shale Works. Among them I was very much surprised to see a specimen each of V. atalanta and P. festucœ. I learnt from Mr. Dunlop that the specimen of V. atalanta was the only one secured out of several seen. This insect, however, has been previously taken in New Zealand. Mr. T. W. Kirk states (Trans. N.Z. Inst., xvi., 550) that he captured a specimen in the Wellington Botanical Gardens in the summer of 1881, and at a subsequent date saw others. P. festucœ, I believe, has not previously been observed in New Zealand. The specimen under notice was attracted by the electric light, and, though not in the best condition, I do not think there can be any doubt of its identity. Mr. Meyrick says (“Handbook of British Lepidoptera,” 157) that P. festucœ is found in Britain and Ireland, north and central Europe, and northern Asia. It is just possible that the species is also a true inhabitant of New Zealand, like its near relative P. chalcites.