"The maxillary palpi are obsolete, the fore-wings have vein _1b_ simple
or hardly furcate, _1c_ absent, and 5 approximated to 4 towards base. The
hind-wings are furnished with a frenulum, vein _1c_ is absent, and 8 is
connected or anastomosing with cell." (See Plate II., figs. 1 to 12 and
14 to 18.)
"Imago with the fore-wings more or less elongate-triangular, termen not
very oblique; hind-wings broad-ovate.
"Larva sometimes very hairy, usually with 10 prolegs, those on segments 7
and 8 sometimes absent. (Plate III., figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15 and 16.)
Pupa with segments 9 to 11 free; not protruded from cocoon in
emergence."--(Meyrick.)
So far as New Zealand is concerned, the _Caradrinina_ may be said to
comprise that group of the Lepidoptera formerly known as the _Noctuina_,
with the addition of the family _Arctiadæ_. Its members are chiefly
nocturnal fliers; the body is usually stout, the forewings are narrow, and
(except in the _Arctiadæ_) mostly dull-coloured, with three very
characteristic spots. 1. The orbicular stigma, a round spot situated near
the middle of the wing; 2. The claviform stigma usually somewhat
club-shaped and situated immediately below the orbicular; and 3. The
reniform stigma, a kidney-shaped marking situated beyond the orbicular. The
claviform is very frequently absent, and the orbicular less frequently so,
but the reniform is an almost constant character throughout the entire
group, with the exception of the _Arctiadæ_.
There are three families of the _Caradrinina_ represented in New Zealand,
viz.:--