RARE CATERPILLARS.

Shannon News, 19 April 1927, Page 3

RARE CATERPILLARS.

DISCOVERY IN THE SOUTH. ChristchiirclL, April 4. ' Now being looked after and fed with almost loving care by Mr. S. Lindsay, at the Canterbury Museum, is a eaterpillar. It is a very special caterpillar. Scientists call it the Orophora tricolour, Orophora being Greek for thatch bearer, and Unicolor referring to the uniform grey of the adult moth, which is the final state of the caterpillar. The Orophora Unicolor was first discovered in 1877, but there is no record of the placa in Canterbury. A year later Mr. E. W.'Fereday found it.in the Rakaia and Waimakariri River beds, and since then there has been no. further example until Mr. H. Grant forwarded- the present specimen at the instance of Dr. J. Guthrie to the museum. He discovered it on tussocks at BuTke \s Pass. Presumably the adult moth, which has a spread of f-inch, flies about, but none -. has ever been captured to prove this, the only known ones being hatched in captivity. The female has neither legs nor wings, and apparently stays in the easingall her life., \ ..-.~. ' ,' ' ' "" L-i..i • ... ,-• ......