Benham. — On Cordyceps sinclairii. 5 



•Corda, 1842). A large number of other species are known 

 in other lands, and these have been recently described and 

 figured by Mr. G. Massee in the " x\nnals of Botany" 

 (vol. ix., 1895), wherein will be found an epitome of all 

 that is known about the matter. 



In New Zealand we have a second species attacking the 

 larva of the singing locust (Cicada). This species, known as 

 Cordyceps sinclairii, was originally named by Berkeley in his 

 " Flora of New Zealand " (1855) : it is figured by him in his 

 " Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany " (p. 73, fig. 17), and 

 also by Taylor in his "New Zealand and its Inhabitants" 

 (p. 647). Both these figures are rather crude; but, except 

 for cursory references to it by Mr. Maskeil and Mr. A. Hamil- 

 ton in their papers on the vegetable caterpillar in the Trans- 

 actions, I can find no further account of this species. 



Massee, in his monograph above referred to, merely quotes 

 Berkeley's description, who gave as its habitat, "Northern 

 Island (New Zealand) ; in the larva of some orthopterous in- 

 sect ; amongst loose gravelly soil." Hooker records it from a 

 coleopterous larva. 



Last month (August) I received two well-preserved speci- 

 mens of this vegetable Cicada from the lightkeeper at Farewell 

 Spit, who had been good enough to comply with a request of 

 mine to preserve, in a bottle of formol that I had forwarded 

 to him, any animals of interest that he met with. My thanks 

 are due to him for these specimens, as well as for some very 

 fine large ScalpelUim, which appear to be new to science. 



■ The two specimens of C. sinclairii are at different stages 

 of development, and are so different in appearance from 

 C. hngelii (= robertsii) that I looked into the literature of the 

 subject, and, as a result, proceeded to investigate the matter. 



The fungus, in this stage, makes its way out of the insect 

 near the anterior end, as in all normal cases of Cordyceps 

 hitherto recorded. It issues between the head and pronotum. 

 The main branch grows straight forward for some . distance 

 and gives off branches right and left in a very characteristic 

 fashion. At first the fungus is cylindrical, white in colour, 

 with a certain amount of pink in places.* In one specimen 

 the branches are few and short (figs. 1, 2); in the other (fig. 3) 

 they are more numerous, and the whole aspect is much more 

 elaborate, and resembles a deer's antlers. The branches lose 

 their cylindrical shape and become irregular ; some others 

 broaden out, become more or less flattened, and are very 



* Berkeley states that C. sinclairii is yellowish. It must be borne 

 in mind that the above description refers to specimens preserved in 

 formol, but the colour of the dried fungus is practically the same, 

 though the pink tint is less pronounced. Possibly " yellowish "-brown 

 might apply to a dried specimen. 



