398 Transactions. — Botany. 



tomophthora musca) and various fungi that attack hom- 

 opterous bush insects, the vegetable caterpillar came under 

 notice. " The grub," said Mr. Maskell, " was stated to be 

 the larva of some large moth, probably of the genus Hepialus, 

 and the fungus belonged to the genus Cordiceps. The action 

 of the fungus on the insect was practically the same as in the 

 case of the fungus on the house-fly, as it took possession of 

 and destroyed all the internal organs ; but, as the caterpillar 

 was subterranean, the fungus, in order to reach the air and 

 scatter its spores, pushed out a long stem through the earth, 

 and at the extremity of the stem the 'asci,' or small bags 

 containing the spores, were developed." 



Following Mr. Maskell's remarks, Sir Walter Buller ven- 

 tured to challenge Mr. Maskell's description of the vegetable 

 caterpillar, because he considered it unscientific and mislead- 

 ing, and he pointed out that in Mr. B. Wakefield's book, 

 " New Zealand after Forty Years," there was an erroneous 

 figure of the vegetable caterpillar, which was represented as 

 lying horizontally, with the stems growing upwards at a right 

 angle with the body. Mr. T. W. Kirk at the same time 

 remarked that specimens of Hejnalus do not take to the 

 ground, and that the steins of the vegetable caterpillar " grow 

 from either end, and from both ends, of the single specimen." 



In the " Transactions of the New Zealand Institute " for 

 1894, page 155, Sir Walter Buller has a paper on the vege- 

 table caterpillar, but he brings no new facts to bear on the 

 life-history of this interesting insect. He gives, however, the 

 following statement from the late Mr. Skey, then Government 

 Analyst, touching the so-called skin of the vegetable cater- 

 pillar : "The skm does not give any indication of the pre- 

 sence of chitine or other animal substance. It burns without 

 intumescence, and does not evolve the odour of nitrogenous 

 matter in combustion." Sir Walter found, however, that it 

 was necessary to correct a statement that he made at the 

 meeting referred to above, to the effect that in every instance 

 that had come under his observation the caterpillar, in the 

 living state, had descended into the ground tail foremost, his 

 subsequent examination of specimens in his collection showing 

 a specimen caterpillar that had evidently buried itself head 

 foremost. 



As to where this caterpillar is found, I quite agree with Sir 

 Walter Buller as to the general distribution of the vegetable 

 caterpillar over the whole of the North Island ; and, of course, 

 the statement made by the Rev. Mr. Taylor, as quoted above, 

 is erroneous. I have found specimens all over the North 

 Island except on the peninsula to the north of Auckland. 

 Along the Bay of Plenty and in the bush country between 

 Lichfield and Eotorua they are very plentiful. They are 



