Discoveries in Australia Volume I Part 47

Habitat: New Holland.

Chrysomela (Australica ?) strigipennis.

INSECTS. PLATE 2, FIGURE 4.

Brown with a greenish metallic hue. Thorax and elytra margined with obscure yellow, thorax with the anterior angles yellow, a few irregular punctures in the middle, and the posterior parts thickly dotted with impressed points; elytra with seven irregular lines of impressed dots, towards the tip they are irregularly dispersed, there are a few irregular yellow streaks near the margins of the elytra; under side blackish brown, tibiae and tarsi yellowish.

Length about 4 1/4 lines.

Habitat: New Holland.

This differs from Australica in having the thorax narrower, and the antennae longer and less thickened at the end.

APPENDIX.

DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME NEW OR IMPERFECTLY CHARACTERIZED LEPIDOPTERA FROM AUSTRALIA.

BY EDWARD DOUBLEDAY, F.L.S. a.s.sISTANT IN THE ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

Genus EUSCHEMON, Doubleday.

Maxillae moderately long.

l.a.b.i.al Palpi of moderate length, basal joint very short, compressed, curved, clothed with scales and long hairs, second joint about four times as long as the first, subcylindric, clothed with long scales, third joint clothed with small scales, short, elongate-oval, slenderer than the second, the scales of which almost conceal it.

Antennae elongate, with a fusiform club much hooked at the extremity.

Eyes large, forehead broad.

Anterior wings triangular, the outer and inner margins nearly equal, about two-thirds the length of the anterior. Costal nervure two-thirds the entire length of the wing; subcostal nervule slightly deflected towards the end of the cell, throwing off its first nervule at about one-third of its length, the second about the middle of its course, the s.p.a.ce between the origins of the second and third nervules not as long as that between the first and second, the fourth arising just before the end of the cell: upper discocellular nervule very short, the second discoidal equidistant from the first discoidal and the third median nervule, the disco-cellular nervules almost atrophied; median nervule throwing off its first nervule not far from the base, the third nervule a little bent where the discocellular joins it, radial nervure running nearly parallel with the inner margin throughout its whole length, reaching the outer margin a little above the a.n.a.l angle. Posterior wings broad, semi-ovate, costal nervure long, sub-costal terminating in only two nervules, discoidal nervule nearly atrophied; discocellular the same, united with the third median nervule; cell rather large. Base of these wings in the male with a strong bristle pa.s.sing behind a strong corneous retinaculum, which arises from the anterior side of the sub-costal nervure.

Legs rather long; anterior tibiae with a curved spine on the inside, covered by the long scales of the tibiae, anterior tarsi twice the length of the tibiae, basal joint longer than the rest combined, second and third equal; the two combined equal to about two-thirds the length of the first, fourth and fifth very short, together about equal to the third.

Second pair with the tibiae about two-thirds as long as the tarsi, with numerous minute spines along their sides and two stout ones at the apex; joints of the tarsi having about the same relative proportions as in the anterior pair. Posterior tibiae and tarsi nearly as in the second pair.

Claws of all the tarsi stout, simple.

Euschemon rafflesia.

Hesp. rafflesia, McLeay, Appendix to King's Survey of Australia, 463.

Anterior wings black above, with a transverse macular sulphur-coloured band beyond the middle, and a submarginal one, broadest towards the apex, composed of greenish atoms. Posterior wings with a large oval sulphur-coloured spot in the cell, separated only by the median nervure from a smaller one on the abdominal margin near the base, and followed by a sub-trigonate one divided into three parts by the median nervules.

Below, the markings are nearly as above, with the addition of a greenish line along the costa of the anterior wings, bending downwards at its termination. Posterior wings encircled by a marginal band of the same greenish colour.

Head black, orbits of the eyes and a line across the vertex white. Palpi bright crimson except the last joint which is black. Antennae black.

Thorax black. Abdomen above black, the base and the edges of four of the segments whitish, last segment bright crimson; below, whitish at the base, crimson beyond the middle.

Exp. alar. 2 un. 9 lin.

Habitat: New Holland.

Genus SYNEMON, Doubleday.

Head round, eyes large, forehead broad.

Maxillae rather long.

l.a.b.i.al palpi short, clothed with dense long scales, first joint short, second more than double the length of the first, tapering towards its extremity, third joint about equal in length to the second, sub cylindric, tapering towards the apex. Antennae with a stout, short club, more or less mucronate at the apex, the mucro mostly if not always with a tuft of scales at the point, the club sometimes appearing compressed (perhaps from desiccation).

Thorax stout, anterior wings triangular, the costal nervure terminating about the middle of the costa, the sub-costal terminating in five nervules of which the first and second one are thrown off before the disco-cellular nervule, the third almost immediately beyond it, the fourth rather further from the third than this is from the second; discoidal nervules almost atrophied at their origin, the first connected with the subcostal nervure, the latter with the third median nervule by a very short discocellular; the discoidal nervule itself almost atrophied, running nearly parallel with and immediately above the median; third median nervule much bent at its origin. Posterior wings sub-ovate, costal nervure long, sub-costal terminating only in two nervules, upper discocellular nervule wanting, discoidal nervure distinct and simple throughout its whole course to the outer margin, with a slight bend at its junction with the short disco-cellular which connects it with the median nervule: bristle in the male simple, retained by a corneous retinaculum arising from the posterior side of the sub-costal nervure, compound in the female, retained by a bunch of scales arising from the anterior side of the median nervure.

Anterior legs short, tibiae with a strong sharp spine about the middle, the first joint of the tarsi about the same length as the tibiae, the four remaining ones equal in length to the first: second pair with the tibiae about two-thirds as long as the tarsi, bi-spinose at the extremity, first joint of the tarsi nearly equal to all the rest: posterior legs with the tibiae about two-thirds the length of the tarsi, bispinose at the apex and furnished also with two spines beyond the middle, first joint of the tarsi longer than the rest combined. Claws of all the feet simple, tarsi spiny.

Abdomen cylindrical, arched in the male, tufted at its extremity, in the female tapering to a point.

There seems to be a slight difference in the structure of the antennae in this genus, in the first species the club is rounder and less mucronate than in the two following ones, it seems also dest.i.tute of the tuft of scales at the point.

SYNEMON SOPHIA.

Hesperia ? sophia, White, Appendix to Grey's Narrative, volume 2, page 474, figure 7.

Anterior wings of the male brown, clouded with grey and fuscous-brown, a dark cloud near the base, another at the end of the discoidal cell followed by a white dot, the nervures greyish white. Posterior wings black, the base with an oval yellow spot, a macular yellow band beyond the middle, followed by a series of yellow spots. Cilia yellowish towards the a.n.a.l angle.

Head greyish, antennae black varied with white. Thorax grey. Abdomen black at the base, whitish beyond.

Female with the anterior wings nearly black, clouded with light bluish grey scales, on the margin arranged into a band divided by a series of black spots; extremity of the cell with a white dot; beyond the cell a short macular band commencing on the costa. Posterior wings black, with a large orange spot near the base, followed by a broad abbreviated, transverse band, commencing on the abdominal margin and succeeded by a large rounded spot of the same colour; between these and the outer margin a series of three or four orange spots.

Head dark grey, palpi nearly white, antennae black, ringed with white.

Abdomen pale fulvous.

Exp. alar. 1 un. 10 lines.

Habitat: New Holland.

This fine species was first described by Mr. White in the Appendix to Captain Grey's Narrative. He then expressed the opinion that it was nearly allied to Castnia and Coronis. The generic characters given above will fully justify this view. In fact we can only regard it as the Australian representative of Castnia.

The under surface of this species is beautifully varied with black and orange, but I may refer for a more detailed account to the work above mentioned.