117
CRYPTOPHASA IRRORATA.
PLATE X. Figs. 1, 2.
Lewin, Lepid. of New South Wales, pl. 10.
The genus Cryptophasa (or, as it was termed, section of the genus Bombyx) was established in 1822 by Mr. Lewin,[1] for the reception of several very interesting moths, inhabitants of New South
- ↑ Lewin had discovered these curious moths so early as 1803, although entomologists in general had no means of becoming acquainted with them till the appearance of his work many years after. We find the following reference to them in a manuscript letter addressed to Mr. Dru Drury of London, the celebrated collector of insects, from New South Wales, 7th March, 1803. "I was at a loss to know where to look for the larvæ of moths for a great while after I came here, for I never could find any in all my different travels into the country; but now my surprise is at an end; and I daresay you will be greatly pleased to hear that I have twenty drawings, with the larvæ, chrysalis, and moths complete for engraving, of species which feed by night, and secrete themselves in a hole either in the body or branches of a tree. There they lie hid all the day, and sometimes for several days together; for when they want to feed, they come out at night and gnaw off a small twig and drag it to their hiding-place to feed on at their leisure. They cover up their hole with a web in a very careful manner, so that it requires a careful person to find their hiding-place."
