392 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



species of moths were discovered as the result of this expedi- 

 tion, I cannot say chat I regard Castle Hill as a first-class 

 locality for entomological work. 



Probably the ideal spot for alpine collecting in New Zea- 

 land is Mount Cook Hermitage. Here the collector has all 

 the comforts and conveniences of a first-class house, and is 

 actually in the midst of a subalpine fauna and flora. During 

 last December I visited this locality, and was fortunate 

 enough to take, amongst other things, a new species of 

 Declaim (D. glacialis), which I exhibit this evening. I pro- 

 pose to describe this insect, with several other new species of 

 Macro-iepid< ptera, at a subsequent meeting during the session. 



My visit to Mount Cook was unfortunately limited to five 

 days only, of which three were more or less wet, so that my 

 entomological investigation of the district is at present ex- 

 tremely imperfect, especially as my energies were very much 

 impaired at the time by an attack of influenza. In spite of 

 these very great drawbacks, however, I saw and obtained a 

 considerable number of novelties, and feel confident that a 

 more prolonged visit a little later in the season — say, from 

 the middle or end of December until the end of January — 

 would be productive of extremely satisfactory results. The 

 great advantage of Mount Cook as an entomological locality 

 is the high altitude (2,500 ft.) of the collector's headquarters. 

 In tw T o or three hours an elevation of over -4,000 ft. can easily 

 be attained, the greatest number of species being found be- 

 tween these limits of elevation. As a matter of fact, very 

 few insects are found above 6,000 ft., and, so far as collecting 

 is concerned, it is quite -unnecessary to ascend above this 

 altitude. 



During my visit to Mount Cook my explorations were 

 practically confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the 

 Hermitage — i.e., the terminal moraine of the Mueller Glacier, 

 the Hooker River, and the Sealey Eange. The first-named 

 locality was the most productive, and was at that season 

 (early December) covered with most beautiful specimens of 

 alpine flowers, the handsome Ranunculus lyalli being the 

 most conspicuous. Some very fine grasshoppers were found 

 here, notably Brachaspis nivalis and Paprides nitidus, and 

 allied species. The first named is a large greyish -brown 

 species, and was found abundantly on the bare moraine close 

 to the ice. The species, unfortunately, have faded very much 

 since they were killed, and their appearance is thus so much 

 altered that I am satisfied, for accurate work, it is essential 

 that descriptions and illustrations of these insects should be 

 made from living specimens. This remark applies, in fact, to 

 all species of bright-green grasshoppers, many of which are 

 extremely beautiful. Diptera were very abundant on the 



