I 



ABUNDANCE OF LEPIDOPTERA IN NEW ZEALAND. 213 



Christchurch, New Zealand. Other species occurring in Australia 

 and New Zealand are Pyrameis stea, P. cardui var. kershawi, 

 Lyccena phoehe (one specimen only taken), and Junonia vellida. 

 Among the Heterocera having a wide distribution occur Heliothis 

 armigera, Agrotis ypsilon, Sphinx convolvuli, Deiopia pulchella, &c. 

 The above list is given to show the geopraphical range and 

 relations of the species, and it appears to me that the question 

 of their distribution must be explained by some more reliable 

 theory than their occasional immigration from Australia, or 

 accidental introduction by other means. For this purpose let us 

 consider the geological aspect of the case. 



The Lepidopterous fauna of New Zealand is, with few excep- 

 tions, composed of very ancient species, and Mr. Meyrick, who 

 has traced the affinities of the Micro-lepidoptera with a skilful 

 hand, has shown that a few of the same genera, or other closely 

 allied genera and species, are also found in different parts of 

 Australia, Tasmania, Fiji, Europe, Ceylon, Borneo, Hawaiian 

 Islands, and South America. In his Presidential Address to the 

 Philosophical Society of Canterbury, New Zealand, in 1884, 

 Prof. F. W. Hutton pointed out that " New Zealand had not 

 been connected with Australia since the cretaceous period." The 

 same able geologist, in dealing with the origin of our fauna and 

 flora, also pointed out that in early mesozoic times New Zealand, 

 Eastern Australia, and India formed one biological region, land 

 probably extending continuously from New Zealand to New South 

 Wales and Tasmania. Eeferring to the scarcity of animals 

 occurring in both Australia and New Zealand, Prof. Hutton 

 remarks, " On the whole we may well be astonished that, not- 

 withstanding the strong westerly cyclones and the special facilities 

 afforded by petrels, no animals except a few birds and insects, 

 and but few flowering plants, have been able to cross this very 

 ancient barrier." Mr. A. E. Wallace, in discussing the origin of 

 the New Zealand fauna, admits that there is "a wonderful 

 amount of speciality," and adds that "the affinities, where they 

 can be traced, are with Australia and Polynesia." But the labours 

 of Mr. Meyrick with the Micro-lepidoptera, and Mr. A. G. Butler 

 in other groups, have clearly shown that with few exceptions the 

 Lepidopterous fauna of New Zealand has originated within its 

 present limits or region, and are unquestionably relects of a very 

 ancient fauna. In the case of the species mentioned as occurring 

 in both countries, they appear to me to afford examples of 

 species retaining their typical colours for an almost indefinite 

 period of time. The same applies to several species of Coleop- 

 tera, and birds of feeble flight indigenous to both countries ; but 

 we need not here impress the bearing of this question further on 

 the subject. 



In regard to the occurrence of the Eastern golden plover in 

 New Zealand, and the latter forming its eastern limit, it seems 



