Art. XXXIII.—Supplementary Description of Species or Varieties of Chrysophani (Lepidoptera rhopalocera) inhabiting New Zealand.

By R. W. Fereday, C.M.E.S.L.

indicating certain characters and circumstances which appeared to afford reasonable ground for treating several of the New Zealand forms of Chrysophani as distinct species or varieties.

Not having had time to complete the coloured drawings intended to illustrate the several forms, I promised to prepare such drawings and to give a full description in a future paper, and I now fulfil that promise.

The several letters—A, B, C, D, E, F and G—used in my former paper to indicate the different forms, will be now used to indicate the like.

Chysophanus salustius, Fab.

B. Male: Primaries.—Broad; costa slightly rounded towards the apex and considerably so at the base; hind margin uniformly convex.

Upper side.—Fulgid golden-copper, dusky at the base; the dusky shade not extending to the discoidal dots; two black dots before the middle, the one being in the discoidal cell and the other between the medial and anal nervures; a black quadrate patch on the false nervure closing the discoidal cell; beyond the middle and midway between the quadrate patch and the submarginal band, a curved and rather narrow black band disrupted by the intersection of the nervures; a submarginal black macular band, the maculæ more or less confluent; hind margin bordered with black; the border and submarginal band contiguous towards the anal angle, and confluent towards the apex where they expand and form a broad termination on the costa; nervures slightly bordered and in some individuals slightly irrorated with black; cilia pale fulvous.

Under side.—Luteous; the base, costa, hind margin, and apex, pale dull yellow blending with the luteous; the discoidal black dots and quadrate patch as on the upper side, the latter formed of two confluent spots, the first band beyond the patch represented by seven (occasionally eight) roundish black spots, and the spot between the externo-medial and sub-externo-medial nervures being (in some individuals) blotched outwardly, and the two between the subexterno-medial and anal nervures being didymous; the maculæ of the submarginal band diminish in size from the anal angle towards the apex where they become obsolete; cilia pinkish-orange.

Secondaries: Upper side.—Fulgid golden-copper, dusky at the base and inner margin; a dusky dot in the discoidal cell towards the base; a black patch closing the discoidal cell, midway between which and the submarginal band is a rather narrow irregular curved black macular band; the maculæ of the latter band sagittate; hind margin bordered with black, the black border and submarginal band being confluent towards the anterior margin; cilia pale fulvous.

Under side.—Saffron or cadmium-yellow; the maculæ of the upper side being repeated, but very obscure; cilia pinkish-orange.

A. Female.—Similar to the male, except that on the upper side of the wings the nervures are more irrorated with black, the basal shade extending to the discoidal dots, the dark bands broader (the sub-marginal bands especially so), and the maculæ thereof more united, the maculæ of the sub-marginal band having pale-violet lunular pupils very distinct on the secondary and less so on the primary wing, the lunules becoming obsolete as they approach the costa of the primary wing. In some individuals the violet lunules are more or less obsolete or entirely absent.

The figures B and A respectively represent the upper side of the male and the upper side of the female—B representing the body and right wings of the male, and A the left wings of the female. Figure 2 represents the under side.

Expanse of wings—1 inch 2 lines.

Hab. New Zealand.

Time of appearance: December to March.

Frequents grassy places, particularly sunny banks; seems to be distributed over most parts of the South Island, for I have met with it in all localities I have visited. I cannot say with certainty if it is found in the North Island. Mr. Butler, of the British Museum, informs me that the female was described by Fabricius as salustius, and by Doubleday as edna, and consequently the Fabrician name salustius, being the earlier, will take precedence. Neither Fabricius nor Doubleday mention the violet pupils of the maculæ of the sub-marginal band; but possibly the pupils were absent in the specimens they described, for some individuals in my possession have the pupils nearly obsolete.

There is an error in the printing of my former paper,^* which materially lessens the force of the passage. The word copulâ should be in the place of “company.”

C. maui, Fereday.

C. Male.—I can add but little to what I have written in my former paper as to the distinctive characters of this form, but that the secondary wings are more produced and angular at the anal angle than in any of the other forms, with the exception perhaps of form E (male), the secondaries of which have nearly the same angle; the maculæ of the sub-marginal band are more separated than in the other forms, the two between the sub-externo-medial and subinterno-medial nervures of the primaries and the three nearest the anal angle of the secondary wings being very conspicuous and somewhat rounded, the others being more or less obsolete in different

individuals. In some individuals the maculæ of the band beyond the middle on the upper side of the primary wings are obsolete, the under side of the wings of some examples is nearly similar in colour to the under side of the wings of C. salustius, but in general the yellow is more sordid and the markings of the secondaries more distinct (as shown on Pl. VIII, fig. 1).

Fig. C. represents the upper side of the male and fig. 1 the under side The female I have not yet seen, the few specimens taken by me having been all males.

Exp.—1 inch 3 lines.

Hab. Wellington and Hawke Bay.

Time of appearance: February (and probably in spring).

Taken flying in open clearing in bush.

C. Feredayi, Bates.

D. Male and Female.—Mr. Bates' description,* and the observations in my previous paper, sufficiently indicate the distinctive characters of this form. Fig. D. represents the upper side of the male and fig. 3 the underside.

Exp.—1 inch 3 lines.

Hab. Mount Torlesse Station and Kaiapoi, Canterbury.

Time of appearance: December to March.

C. Rauparaha, n. sp.

E. Male.—The following may be added to the description contained in my former paper:—

Primaries.—Narrower than in any of the other forms; costa very slightly concave beyond the middle, rounded towards the tip and abruptly so at the base. Hind margin much more oblique than in any of the other forms, and slightly concave near the anal angle.

Upper side.—Fulgid copper, but not so bright and glistening as C. salustius or C. maui; dusky at the base; the discoidal dots, quadrate patch, and bands black; bands narrow and maculæ small, but not so much so as in C. maui; the sub-marginal band very broad towards the costa, and, conjoined with the border of the hind margin forms a broad dark tip; nervures black, and more narrow than in the other forms; cilia dark fulvous.

Under side.—Disc luteous, the base and along the costa fuscous, and also a fuscous border on the hind margin; very broad at the apex, and narrow towards the anal angle; the discoidal dots, quadrate patch, and sub-marginal band represented as in the other forms, but the maculæ less rounded; cilia pinkish-brown.

Secondaries.—Anal angle rectangular.

Upper side.—Same colour as upper side of primaries; dark markings, similar to those of form B., but less distinct, and the dark border and sub-marginal band not confluent towards the anterior margin; cilia dark fulvous.

Under side.—Fuscous; the markings of the upper side repeated, but very indistinct; each macula of the sub-marginal band bears a pale lunule, and has also a pale outward margin; cilia pinkish-brown.

Fig. E. represents the upper side of the male and fig. 4 the under side.

Exp.—1 inch 3.5 lines.

Hab. Kaiapoi Bush, Canterbury.

Time of appearance: December and January.

I discovered this form at Kaiapoi Bush, where it was not uncommon before the bush was destroyed. I know of no other locality where it has been seen or taken.

(?) C. Rauparaha.

F. Female.—This, as stated in my former paper, I believe to be the female of form E.

Exp.—1 inch 4 lines.

Hab. One specimen taken at Kaiapoi Bush and one at Fendalltown, near Christchurch.

Time of appearance: January.

C. Boldenarum, White.

G.—I have two or three varieties, and am not quite clear as to which Mr. Butler's description, in his “Catalogue of Lepidoptera of New Zealand,” p. 3, refers. The figures 8 and 9 in plate at the end of his catalogue most nearly agree with the variety found (or formerly found, for I have not seen it for some years past) within the city of Christchurch, on some flat sandy waste ground. Mr. Butler, referring to the figures, states, “the bands and spots on the under-surface of secondaries have been made altogether too dark,” which is not the case with the Christchurch specimens, the latter being generally darker than shown in Mr. Butler's figure, though some individuals are not quite so dark.

The varieties appear to be due to locality, as the individuals of each locality vary but little.

There are three localities where I have taken this insect, namely, Christchurch; Drayton Station, on the plains near Mount Hutt; spurs of mountains near Castle Hill Station; and the top of the Mount Hutt range—all in the Canterbury province.

The distinctive characters of the varieties may be better understood by the following tabular arrangement.