300 Transactions. — Zoology. 



commits on our lawns and pastures. The best known example of this family 

 is the common cockchafer of the British Isles, and our species, though much 

 smaller, almost rivals its destructive habits. Three specimens, viz., Odontria 

 striata, 0. cinnamonea, and a third and smaller kind as yet undescribed, are 

 abundant in this province. I have never heard of the larger Xylonychus 

 being taken in Canterbury, though it is common at "Wellington. To this 

 family belongs also Pyronota /estiva, to which I have previously alluded. 



Next to the Melolonthidce the coprophagous beetles, comprising the families 

 Geotrupidce, Copridce, and Aphodiadce, etc., are usually placed. In no section 

 is the paucity of the New Zealand Coleoptera more conspicuous than in this, 

 which is celebrated for the quaint and grotesque forms of the members composing 

 it, and for the reverence paid to one of its species by the ancient Egyptians. 

 By w^ay of illustrating this contrast, let us take a plain frequented by 

 cattle in the south of Europe, on the banks^ of the Tiber for instance, and 

 compare it with a similar locality in New Zealand. There we shall find every 

 piece of dung swarming with various species of Aphodius, Onthophagus, and 

 Oniticellus. Beneath, the ground is perforated with the burrows of the huge 

 horned Copris and Geotrupes, and around the mystic Ateuchi are busily engaged 

 in their sisyphean tasks, whilst the air resounds with the hum of the more 

 active Gymnopleuri, and numerous Carahidce are present to feed upon the other 

 species. Here, on the contrary, so far as insects are concerned, all is silent 

 and motionless, and the coleopterist who was totally ignorant of the history of 

 New Zealand might infer a great portion of it from the absence of these beetles 

 alone. Specimens of Onthophagus granulatus have been- taken by Mr. Fereday 

 in the province of Nelson, but as Mr. Bates considers them to be identical with 

 the Australian species, there can be no doubt that they have been imported 

 with cattle. I have taken an Aphodius near to Christchurch, and am disposed 

 to think that this small species may be indigenous. A relative of the last- 

 named beetle, Oxyomus exsculptus, is described by White, but the locality 

 is not mentioned. 



But although nature, not having provided New Zealand with large 

 quadrupeds, was under no obligation to provide scavengers for the removal 

 of their excrement, yet, as if anxious to supply the deficiency, she has 

 furnished ns with some conspicuous members of the^Dynastidce, a family most 

 closely allied to them. Having no collection to refer to, I cannot say whether 

 the two species figured by White occur in this province, but, at least three 

 species of the family are abundant on the sand-hills. At some seasons of the 

 year they must be exceedingly common, for the ground is often covered with 

 their dead bodies, but I have only met with one specimen alive during an 

 experience of fifteen years. Doubtless some residents on the sand-hills can 

 throw light on the habits of this insect, which are apparently very peculiar. 



