Art. XIX.—New Lepidoptera (Geometridae).

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 46, 1913, Page 122

Art. XIX.—New Lepidoptera (Geometridae). By Louis B. Prout, F.E.S. Communicated by W. George Howes, F.E.S., F.L.S. [Read before the Otago Institute, 4th November, 1913.] Xanthorhoe declarata n. sp. ♂. 36–38 mm. Very closely related to X. clarata Walk., but apparently quite distinct. Differs in the greyer brown (not ochreous) markings of the forewing and the white (not yellow or ochreous) hindwing. Forewing with the second subbasal white fascia less strongly curved; discal dot enlarged, touching the first post-discal fuscous line; outer boundary of median area less deeply inbent on fold; white subterminal line less deeply dentate. The first fuscous post-discal line, though too variable in both species to give a constant distinction, is, as a rule, sharply outangled between veins 6 and 7 in clarata, but in declarata only very obtusely bent or very gently curved. The hindwing beneath differs still more markedly: in clarata its basal half, though partly dark-marked, is encroached upon by a deep and large pale prong running inwards at vein 5 as far as the discocellulars (in some, measure even to the base) and another on the fold; in declarata the basal half is much more uniformly darkmarked, its distal edge only forming two very moderate inward bends. Abdomen also whitish, dorsally with pairs of rather dark spots. From cataphracta Meyr., which is also related, declarata differs especially in the angulation of the distal edge of the median band. Ben Lomond, 12th February, 1912; 4 ♂ (including the type). Queenstown, 26th January, 1912; 1 ♂, kindly presented by Mr. W. G. Howes. Other examples are in his collection. Tatosoma apicipallida n. sp. ♂♀. 33 mm. Face and palpus blackish dusted with bright red, the palpus also mixed with whitish scales and with the tip white. Thorax and base of abdomen similarly coloured, abdomen otherwise grey, edged with black at the incisions. Forewing whitish-grey with pink reflections, basal one-third and an apical patch mostly whiter; a small basal patch of black and bright-red scales produced along posterior margin to ⅓; the lines formed of accumulations of blackish scales sprinkled with bright-red ones; three or four faint waved lines between basal patch and median area, followed nearly at middle of wing by stronger double line (proximal edge of median area) bending outward in cell, then inwards as far as submedian fold, then again outwards, crossed by dark marks at costal, median, and submedian veins; cell-spot present; distal part of median area occupied by three dark strongly dentate lines which run nearly parallel with the preceding but diverge somewhat in costal region and enclose some dark shading; these lines also somewhat dark-marked on submedian vein; pale area at apex enclosing a small dark subapical patch on costa; a terminal series of double dark dots, thick and somewhat elongate: cilia apparently dark grey with lighter line at base (defective).

Hindwing uniform glossy pale grey with a slight ochreous tinge: cilia concolorous. Under-surface very weakly marked, forewing showing some slight pale markings on costa and traces of the distal boundary of median area, the terminal area being very slightly lighter in parts. The type ♀ was taken on the slopes of Ben Lomond, Lake Wakatipu, on the 18th November, 1910, and very kindly presented by the captor, Mr. W. G. Howes. The co-type ♂ sent me subsequently, labelled “Humboldts, 24th December, 1911,” and which Mr. Howes tells me was taken with others on Bold Peak by Mr. C. Fenwick, through whose generosity it now stands in my collection. The wings are not quite so extremely narrow, the ♂ abdomen not quite so extremely elongate, as in the most typical members of the genus. Chloroclystis (Pasiphila) rufulitincta n. sp. ♂. 27 mm. Structure rather similar to that of bilineolata, the type of the section Pasiphila; both the palpus and the antennal ciliation slightly shorter, face less tufted, discocellulars of hindwing appreciably though not strongly biangulate. Face and palpus light grey. Head and thorax grey mixed with reddish. Abdomen dark grey with a dorsal belt at base and a media-dorsal line whitish-grey, the anterior segments also marked dorsally with red. Forewing rather elongate, with termen strongly oblique; glossy pinkish-grey; a small basal patch and a very broad median band dull-reddish, the proximal edge of the latter from nearly ½ costa to ⅖ posterior margin, angled basewards between submedian fold and vein 1, outwards at vein 1; its distal edge from costa at fully ⅔, oblique outwards to behind vein 4, where it is scarcely 2mm. distant from termen, here forming a sharp tooth or prong and a second scarcely less sharp behind vein 3, then retracted basewards, finally rather direct from vein 2 to tornus, but indented on submedian fold; the brightest and most compact part of this median band is its proximal half (narrowing somewhat costally), the distal half being more or less dissolved into wavy lines and its outer boundary in the posterior part of the wing not sharply defined, as it here almost meets some terminal shading; a narrow brown band from costa near apex ending in a point half-way across wing; some dark shading along termen: cilia grey, darker barred. Hindwing rather elongate, with termen not crenulate; glossy grey with indistinct beginnings of darker lines on abdominal margin. Under-surface of forewing greyish, with dark discal mark and beginnings of dark lines on costa; of hindwing paler than above, with dark discal spot and several indistinct angled dark lines, especially in basal half. A single specimen, taken on the slopes of Ben Lomond, on the 18th November, 1910, by Mr. W. G. Howes; kindly presented by the captor. Recognizable by its large size (equal to the largest bilineolata), shape coloration, &c.