INTRODUCTION xxix 



Goiildia, Straussia, Pelea and arborescent lobelias may be dominant. Naturally two 

 such localities though adjoining one another have a vastly different fauna. Of the 

 lesser plants found within the forest-belt, violets with woody stems, a giant Gtmnera, 

 the pink-flowered begonia (Hillebrandia), the liliaceous Asielia, and some of the 

 endemic Labiates are the most likely to attract the attention of the non-botanist. On 

 the summits of the lesser mountains (those not attaining 8000 ft.) there is sometimes 

 developed a bog-flora, characterized by species peculiar to itself. Bog moss, endemic 

 sedges, grasses, violets, Dfvsera and creeping and woolly forms of plants elsewhere 

 erect and glabrous are characteristic. Such bogs are more or less evident on all the 

 forest-clad islands, excepting Lanai, and even there one can see signs that such a 

 condition formerly existed. 



On the highest mountains of Maui and Hawaii the forest fails long before their 

 summits, often snow-clad, are reached. Above its upper limit dwarf trees and bushes 

 are found with ferns and grasses to which a drier climate is congenial. Sophora, 

 Santaluvi, Myoporiivi, arborescent or shrubby Composites are common constituents, 

 while the Epacridaceous Cyathodes and Vaccinium reticulatum cover much ground. 

 Some of the endemic species of Geranium attract the eye by their silver foliage, while 

 the silver-sword Argyroxiphium, a handsome and peculiar Composite, is found as high 

 as 12,000 ft. A somewhat similar vegetation is found in some localities within the 

 limits of the forest-belt, where extensive open lava fields occur and there is a lack of 

 permanent moisture. 



On the windward side the forest-belt on some of the islands has suffered less 

 destruction than on the lee side and, if quite undisturbed, it still extends downwards to 

 the cliffs that fringe the shore. Where the coast is not bounded by cliffs the lower 

 slopes are usually denuded, but owing to the rainfall are green throughout the year and 

 well covered with vegetation. The native fauna, however, as on the dry side of the 

 islands has been mostly destroyed by change of conditions and the predominance of 

 imported predaceous insects. The fauna of the windward side is, I think, contrary to 

 what one might expect from the condition of the vegetation, poorer than that of the 

 dry side, although the forest-belt (as on the slopes of Mauna Kea above Hilo) here 

 reaches its greatest development. Wherever I have investigated, this is certainly the 

 case so far as Coleoptera are concerned. However in the rain-soaked woods of the 

 windward forests Lepidoptera are particularly abundant, as also are some Diptera, and 

 the beautiful condition in which one finds the most delicate and minute moths, during 

 the frequent torrential downpours is frequently a matter for wonderment. In such 

 places more hardy insects, such as Pyrantels tammeamea and P. atalanta, Deilephila 

 ivilsoni and others, pay little attention to the heavy showers and may be seen active 

 under such conditions during the day time, while moths in general are equally so after 

 dark. 



It is not necessary to give any special list of the fauna of the true forest-belt. 



