1022.1 29 



amongst rocks at about oOOO feet, a fine specimen of the remarkable 

 broad-winged Anthomyid fly Exsul singularis Hutton, and this speci- 

 men is now in the British Museum (Natural History). Higher up, at 

 about 6000 feet, we secured several specimens of Erebia pluto, Tauro- 

 scopa qlaucophanes, and Orocramhus melampetrus, all three insects being 

 excellent examples of melanic colouring at high altitudes. Descending 

 the mountain between 4.30 and G.30 p.m., we found Porina fusca Philp., 

 amongst the Veronicas at about 4000 feet, and on the tussock grass, 

 between the Veronica bushes, we took a fine series of the grand weevil 

 Tocris laevicostatus Broun. These beetles were evidently just 

 emerging from the tussocks prior to nightfall (we being then on the 

 shady side of the mountain), as not a single specimen was seen during 

 our ascent, over the same ground, about midday. 



On January 14th we left Queenstown, situated on the middle arm 

 of the lake, for Skippers, and reached a hut on the lower slopes of 

 Mount Aurum on the following day. The road to Skippers is one of 

 the most perilous in the Dominion, and the country all around is ex- 

 tremely rough. The prevailing vegetation is tussock grass with small 

 patches of Fagus forest in some of the ravines, and in many places the 

 ground is much overrun by marjoram {Origanum vidgare). The col- 

 lecting here was not nearly as good as around the head of Lake 

 Wakatipu. Four days' hard work produced a good series of Notoreas 

 anthracias Meyr., several Tineids, some probably new, and two very 

 fine specimens of a variety ? of the remarkable giant Tipulid Cerozadia 

 ■plumosa 0. S. On this trip my daughter was fortunate enough to 

 capture a specimen of the beautiful little Choristella pliilpotti Tillyard, 

 the sole representative of the family Panorpidae at present known in 

 New Zealand, This was in a wooded ravine at about rSOOO feet where 

 Scoparia trapezophora, Meyr., and the gorgeous weevil, Pachyura 

 sumptuosa Broun, were also secured. The last named insect was found 

 quite commonly on the foliage of Phyllocladus alpinus, and was very 

 variable in respect of the pale transverse markings on the elytra. A 

 single specimen of the same species was also taken on December 21st 

 amongst mixed Fagus forest, in GroUan's Valley, on the eastern side of 

 Wellington Harbour. 



The past season has also proved noteworthy through the rediscovery 

 of Titanomis sisyrota Meyr., a very rare Tineid of quite exceptional 

 interest. In the " New Zealand Journal of Science " for June 1921, page 

 141, Mr. H. Hamilton reports this occurrence as follows : " After an 

 interval of at least twenty years, during which it was generally thought 

 that this moth must be extinct, it is gratifying to record a reappearance. 



