*JQ [March, 



singularly poor in species, and with few exceptions, rare as individuals, 

 and there is not a single large or conspicuous form. A large aud fine 

 earwig, Anisolabis littorea^ White, is common on almost every sandy 

 beach ; and our familiar Forjicula auricularia, L., which is now as 

 abundant in Tasmania as at home, was found by me sparingly on one 

 occasion only, at WhiteclifEs, on the Canterbury Plains. 



Collecting in New Zealand is very pleasant, but entails a good 

 deal of hard work, as most of the best places are situated on steep 

 hillsides and in densely tangled gullies, and many big logs and stones 

 have to be turned over in a successful day's hunting. Frequently 

 the hills are too precipitous to be worked at all, except along the 

 roads, which are generally mere narrow shelves cut with great labour 

 out of the solid rock. But except for too numerous barbed-wire 

 fences, there is absolutely no restriction to going wherever one 

 pleases. There is also a very agreeable absence of the numerous 

 pests, such as stinging ants, spiders, centipedes, scorpions, &c. — not 

 to mention snakes, which are quite absent from New Zealand — con- 

 stantly met with in Australian collecting. The " Katipo," Latrodectus 

 JiasseUi, Koch, a small globular black spider marked on the upper 

 side with brilliant scarlet, and usually found under stones, &c., quite 

 close to the sea, is the only venomous creature found in the colony, 

 and its bite unquestionably produces very severe symptoms at times, 

 and has even been known to result in death. Mosquitoes and sand- 

 flies abound in some localities, but I was not often troubled with 

 them. The most unpleasant creature usually encountered is the 

 so-called " Maori bug," a large and very evil-smelling wingless black 

 cockroach, Periplaneta fortipes, Walk., which sometimes swarms under 

 loose dry bark and logs, but is quite mild in flavour in comparison 

 with several of the Australian species. 



I now proceed to give some details of general collecting in the 

 principal localities visited during my stay in New Zealand. 



I.— WELLINGTON. 



As "Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, was the head-quarters 

 of the " Ringarooma " during the thirteen months that she was on 

 this part of the Australian station, our visits here were frequent, and 

 my collections from this locality are more complete and extensive 

 than from any other place in the Colony. Fortunately it is still one 

 of the best centres for collecting, and on each successive visit I never 

 failed to find many interesting forms that w^ere new to me. Mr. Gr. V. 

 Hudson, the well-known writer on the Entomology of New Zealand, 



