Page:Transactions NZ Institute Volume 15.djvu/40

Very distinct through the peculiar three-toothed discal spot and the white blotch towards base; allied to D. lepidella and D. leucoxantha, and in respect of the hindwings intermediate.

Three specimens taken by Mr. R. W. Fereday at Christchurch, Nelson, and Akaroa respectively, in January.

Male, female.—19½–20½ mm. Head, antennæ and thorax pale ochreous. Palpi dark fuscous, at base white beneath. Abdomen whitish-grey-ochreous. Legs whitish-ochreous. Forewings triangular, broad, costa slightly arched, apex rounded, hindmargin oblique, sinuations moderate; pale yellowish-ochreous; costa somewhat suffused with brownish towards base; a very slender sometimes indistinct dark fuscous transverse line from costa at ⅓ to inner margin before middle, costal third straight, outwardly oblique, thence irregular, rather strongly bent inwards a little above inner margin; a small longitudinally-placed semicircular silvery-white spot in disc beyond middle, its anterior angle shortly and narrowly produced upwards; a short linear dark fuscous mark along middle of costa; a very slender sometimes indistinct dark fuscous transverse line from costa at ⅘ to inner margin at ⅘, suddenly bent outwards beneath costa, thence moderately outwards-curved, lower third sinuate; sometimes a triangular brown patch on costa immediately beyond first transverse line, extending suffusedly to beneath discal spot; a small suffused brown spot on costa a little beyond second transverse line, sometimes giving rise to a brown suffusion extending to beneath discal spot where it meets the first suffusion, but both these are sometimes wholly obsolete; three short linear longitudinal leaden-metallic streaks crossing second transverse line above middle, and three very short similar streaks below middle; a dark fuscous hindmarginal line; three small roundish black spots close together on hindmargin below middle: cilia shining grey, with a dark metallic-grey basal line. Hindwings fuscous-grey, with an indistinct darker posterior line, and a dark fuscous hindmarginal line; cilia grey with a faint darker line.

Most allied to D. leucoxantha, which it resembles in the character of the discal spot, but is immediately known by the duller ground-colour and grey hindwings; in superficial colouring it is very similar to D. auriscriptella, but is considerably larger, and the discal spot is wholly different. The brownish suffusion in this species is very variable, as in D. chrysochyta.