68 [March, 



ANTIPODEAN FIELD NOTES. 



II.— A YEAR'S INSECT HUNTING IN NEW ZEALAND. 



BY JAMES J. WALKER, Il.N., F.L.S. 



{Continued from page 28). 



and inferior in size. On the other hand, we find numerous, and some- 

 times conspicuous and handsome forms, ainony; the Carahidw, 

 Lucanidce, Elateridce, and the Lotigicornes, and the PselnjyhidcE, 

 DascilUdce, and AnthrihidcB abound in varied and curious species, 

 The most isolated and extraordinary forms are found in the GolydiidcB 

 and the Curculionidw, these tuo families forming a greater portion of 

 the entire Coleopterous fauna than in any other region of the globe ; 

 while one section of the latter family, the Cossonides, is better repre- 

 sented, in proportion to the total number of species of beetles, only iu 

 the single locality of St. Helena. 



Here I can only allude in passing to the deep-seated and probably 

 very a,ncient affinity which undoubtedly exists between the fauna of 

 New Zealand and that of other regions of the .South Temperate 

 Zone, especially of Chile and Tasmania ; but I hope to be able to 

 speak more fully on this subject on a future occasion. 



The Lepidoptera present the same remarkable inequality in the 

 different sections, while they are not nearly as well represented as the 

 Coleoptero, only 236 species, to the end of the " Noctua,'^ being 

 enumerated in Mr. G. V. Hudson's well-illustrated work, "New 

 Zealand Butterflies and Moths" (London, 1898). The only hawk- 

 moth is the almost cosmopolitan Protoparce convolvuJi, L., and the 

 " Bombyces " include only five species, of which our Deoipeia pulchella, 

 L., is one. The very small number of species of butterflies in New 

 Zealand, with its mild climate, luxuriant vegetation, and varied 

 surface, is truly astonishing, and sufficiently indicates its isolation 

 through long ages from the great continental land-masses. Twelve 

 species only are truly indigenous, and the two most interesting of 

 these, JErehia (Percnodaimon) j^it^fo, Butl., and E. {Erehiola) hutleri, 

 Fereday, are confined to the stony slopes and summits of the South 

 Island mountains above 4,000 feet elevation, and I had no opportunity 

 of observing these. Two other species, Argyrophenga antipodum, 

 Uoubl., and LycoBna oxhyi^ also appear to be peculiar to the South 

 Island, while Pyrameis itea, Pab., and Junonia vellida, L., have not yet 

 been certainly observed south of Cook's Strait. The rare and local 

 Dodonidia helmsi, Butl., is found in a few places in both Islands, 

 throughout which the remaining species are fairly well distributed. 



