On the 11th of May, 1892, I observed large numbers of this species flying over the Manuka bushes in the Wellington Botanical Gardens in brilliant moonlight. The night was very cold, but notwithstanding this the moths were most numerous and active. The appearance of this insect under such unusual conditions may have been quite accidental, as I have never seen a recurrence; but one is often somewhat unobservant in the winter, hence the record of this observation may be of use in directing the attention of others to the subject.
According to Mr. Meyrick this species is also found in Tasmania, and South-east Australia.
(_Acidalia schistaria_, Walk. 782. _Asthena subpurpureata_, Walk. 1588. _Acidalia tuhuata_, Feld. cxxviii. 5. _Asthena schistaria_, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xvi. 69.)
(Plate VI., figs. 39, 40 [M], 41, 42 [F] varieties.)
This pretty species is common, and generally distributed throughout the country.
The expansion of the wings is nearly an inch. _All the wings vary from very pale brown to rather dull purplish-brown; there are numerous jagged, darker, transverse lines forming several more or less distinct bands._ The first of these bands extends from the base to about one-eighth; the second, composed of only two or three lines, is situated at about one-third; the third extends from { 53}three-fourths to about five-eighths; there are in addition, numerous very fine, wavy lines near the termen. The spaces between these bands are paler, and in some specimens the bands are very conspicuous, whilst in others they are hardly perceptible. One specimen in my collection (Plate VI., fig. 39) has a very broad chocolate-brown band across the middle of both pairs of wings, the remaining portions being unusually pale in colour. There is always a dark brown dot in the centre of each wing, and a series of very fine dots on the termen.
The larva, which feeds on Manuka (_Leptospermum_), is very ornamental. Its general colour is light green, with black dorsal and lateral stripes, and a series of diagonal markings bordered with crimson; the legs and prolegs are also crimson, and the segments are divided by brilliant yellow rings, a white line extending down each side of the larva.