NOTES ON THE NEW ZEALAND VEGETABLE CATERPILLAR. 173 



Fairly common south. — R. phnnbaria, ¥h.,=pahimharia , Berk. Dove- 

 dale, Barrow, and Breadsall. — E. bipunctaria. Fairly common in the 

 north, unrecorded from the south. 



Carsia paludata. Dovedale, rare. 



Anaitis plagiata. Common throughout the county. 



Chesias spartiata. Fairly common south. 



Tanagra atrata, lj., — cho'rophgllata, Li. Abundant throughout the 

 length and breadth of the county. 



Hughenden House, Derby, April 8th, 1895. 



NOTES ON THE NEW ZEALAND VEGETABLE CATERPILLAR 



( CORDl CE PS no BE UTS II) . 



During the last ten years some interesting notes have 

 appeared in British and continental entomological periodicals on 

 the New Zealand vegetable caterpillar. The following abstract 

 of a paper by Sir Walter Buller, F.R.S., read before the W^elling- 

 ton Philosophical Society, February 20th, 1895, will add con- 

 siderably to our knowledge of this peculiar product of the New 

 Zealand forest. 



" In the discussion," writes Sir Walter in his paper, "which 

 followed the reading of Mr. Maskell's paper on November 4th, I 

 maintained, in opposition to that gentleman's definition — 'animal 

 at one end, vegetable at the other,' — that the so-called vegetable 

 caterpillar, as we now find it, is entirely vegetable substance. 

 The author, as I understood him, contended that the body of the 

 caterpillar had become permeated with vegetable tissue, but that 

 the outer integument or skin was still dried animal matter. To 

 put an end to any possible doubt on the subject, I forwarded to 

 Sir James Hector a specimen of the vegetable caterpillar, and 

 asked him to get it examined and tested by the Government 

 analyst, for the purpose of ascertaining its true constituents. 

 The following result has been ofScially communicated to me : — 



"'Mr. Skey. — The question at issue is, whether the skin of the 

 caterpillar remains, or it it has been converted into fungus like the soft 

 internal tissues. The presence or absence of chitine will determine 

 the question. Save the specimen for reference. — James Hectok ; 

 Nov. 22nd, 1894.' 



" ' Vegetable Caterpillar. — For animal matter in the so-called skin. 

 The skin does not give any indication of chitine or other animal sub- 

 stance. It burns without intumescence, and does not evolve the odour 

 of nitrogenous matter in combustion. — William Skey; Nov. 23rd, 

 1891.' 



" In the course of my remarks at the meeting, I stated that 

 I had dug up in the woods hundreds of this singular product, 

 and that in every instance that had come under my observation 



