324 Transactions. — Zoology. 



glance, it is intermediate in size between the giant form, 

 Deinacrida JietcracantJia, and D. megacej^hala, described and 

 figm-ed by me in vol. iii. of our Transactions. I exhibit 

 specimens of both these forms for comparison with the new 

 one, which I propose to name— 



Deinacrida broughi, sp. nov. 



Female. — Body long and rounded, the entire surface, both 

 upper and lower, being polished or shining. General colour 

 pale reddish-brown, darker on the vertex, paler on the antennae 

 and on the joints of the limbs, and changing to blackish-brown 

 on the face, edges of the thoracic shield, sides of abdomen, 

 hind tibiae, and ovipositor. Head large, with a prominent or 

 rounded vertex, altogether free from punctures ; eyes large, 

 round, and perfectly black ; thoracic shield patchy-looking, 

 but also free from punctures. Of the ten dorsal segments 

 behind it, the two first are broad and squarish, the rest much 

 narrower, even, and with clean - cut edges. Limbs more 

 slender in proportion to the size of the body than in Deina- 

 crida heteracantha. Labrum prominent; labial and maxillary 

 palpi clavate at the tips. The cerci, which are yellowish in 

 colour, slightly curved outwards. The four anterior femora 

 free from spines ; tibiae quadrangular, and having both of 

 their inner edges armed with sharp spurs at short intervals,, 

 the second pair of femora having a single hind spur, about 

 half-way down, as well as a terminal one ; hind femora simi- 

 larly armed with very minute barbs on their inner edges ; 

 hind tibiae not broader behind than on the sides, with the 

 posterior spines arranged in alternate series, sharp, slightly 

 bent, and, proportionately to size, longer than in Deinacrida 

 heteracantha. Length of the body, without appendages, 

 2-25in. ; ovipositor, 0-75; hind femora, 1-5; hind tibiae, 1-5; 

 antennae, 5. 



The following account is given by Mr. Brough of the dis- 

 covery :^ 



"Far up in the gloomy alpine woods which clothe the 

 Karamea Saddle, and in the very heart of a red-birch forest,- 

 I came across this fine Weta for the first time. I should state, 

 however, that I met with a still bigger one, which unfortu- 

 nately I quite destroyed ; and I will explain how this came 

 about. While I was camped in the Saddle, at an eleva- 

 tion of 3,308ft., I noticed several holes near to the bot- 

 tom of several of the old red-birch trees. The mouth of 

 these holes seemed to me to be the entrance to a drive 

 or home of some insect. I chopped into two or three 

 of them with the axe, following up the tunnel, but I 

 could not find any living insect or beetle inside. In one 

 case I followed up the tunnel for some yards, to the 



