KiEK. — On Australian Orchids in New Zealand. 427 



ticity against the weight. My first experiment was with a 

 blow-fly, hung by a thread and let swing against the labellum. 

 But the blow-flies were either too restive, or, by grasping 

 the cup as well as the lid, prevented their weight from being 

 felt by the labellum. I therefore had recourse to ladybirds as 

 more tractable. One of the ladybirds which attack the Sola- 

 nums was induced to climb up a match till it reached the end, 

 when it readily left the wood for the labellum, and immediately 

 the labellum descended and the insect was fairly caught in the 

 cup. It remained imprisoned for about two minutes, when it 

 forced itself out, but did not fertilise the flower or remove the 

 pollen. Other ladybirds similarly entrapped escaped in from 

 one to twenty minutes, but none of them fertilised the flower, 

 the obvious reason being that they were caught with their 

 backs to the column, and the breadth and smoothness of the 

 back prevented the pollen or stigma from being touched. I had 

 frequently placed Caleanas where house-flies would be likely to 

 alight upon them, and had occasionally observed that they had 

 closed the flowers, but the flies were never caught, and I believe 

 the labellums were sprung by being struck from the back. To 

 help nature and make the flowers more attractive in the proper 

 part, I now placed a little honey on the front of the labellums 

 of a dozen flowers, and was soon rewarded by the capture of 

 several flies, only two of which, however, fertilised plants, and 

 one perished in so doing — it was so firmly united to the stigma 

 that it could not help itself. Six hours was the longest time 

 noted as the imprisonment of a fly, but the labellum never rose 

 until the insect escaped or (as in the one instance) died. The 

 usual time for the flowers to remain shut when no insect is 

 enclosed is from a quarter of an hour to an hour." 



Mr. Fitzgerald states that in all probability the right insects 

 were not experimented with ; and, whatever may be the cause, 

 ripe capsules are very rarely produced. 



It may be added that four species of Calcana have been 

 described, all except C. minor being restricted to Australia. 



Calochilus campestris, R. Brown. 



Calochilus is a small genus comprising only three species, 

 which until a few years back were supposed to be absolutely 

 restricted to Australia. In 1882 Mr. J. Buchanan, F.L.S., 

 reported the occurrence of G. 2^<^li(dosus in the Colliug- 

 wood district ;■■'■ and in 1887 Mr. T. Ball showed me a 

 single flower of another species collected by the late Mr. 

 E. B. Dickson, B.A., in the Rotorua district.; but it was not 

 until 1890 that I was able to obtain good specimens, through 

 the kind exertions of my old friend the Eev. F. H. 



* Trans. N. Z. Inst., vol. xv., 340. 



