36 



long, and is slightly recurved. This insect is preyed on by the koheperoa 

 {Euclynamis tditensis), the kaka {Nestor meridioncdis) and several other birds. 



3. Deinacrida megacejohcda, Buller. {Zool, 1867, p. 852.) 



I bestowed this name on a new species, of which I had received several 

 examples (of both sexes) from the woods in the neighbourhood of Welling-ton. 

 The male of this species is characterized by a head and mandibles so large as to 

 appear out of all proportion to the size of the body. (Figure 2, Plate V.b.) 

 This exaggerated feature is wanting in the other sex, which, however, is distia- 

 guishable from Deinacrida thoracica by sufficiently obvious specific characters. 

 The tibise are considerably thicker, and more strongly armed with lateral spurs, 

 although not longer than in the other species ; the thorax, which is ochreous- 

 yellow marked ^vith black in D. tJioracica, is of uniform dark umber, narrowly 

 margined with brown ; the head of this species is almost entirely black, and 

 the body, instead of being pale brown, as in the other, is deep reddish brown 

 with transverse bands of black. The femora are marked on each side with 

 three series of minute black spots, which are more conspicuous in the male. 

 The following are the measurements of the male : — Head and mandibles, one 

 inch ; from anterior edge of thorax to end of abdomen one inch and three- 

 sixteenths, the plate of the thorax measuring a quarter of an inch. The 

 antennje are four inches long ; femur three-quarters of an inch ; tibia one inch 

 and three-sixteenths ; tarsus and claws three-eighths of an inch. The vertex 

 is much rounded or elevated, and perfectly smooth. 



4. Deinacrida rugosa^ sp. no v. (Figs. 1 and 3, Plate Y.b.) 



I propose this name for a species of which one example only (now deposited 

 in the Colonial Museum) has yet been obtained. 



This species is intermediate in size between D. lieteracantha and D. 

 r)iegacephala, and possesses very distinct characters. The extreme length of 

 the body is 1 1 inches, the thoracic shield measuring half an inch in length by 

 three-quarters in width (following the curvature). Althoiigh a male specimen, 

 the head is very small and rounded, measuring only half an inch in length, by 

 three-eighths in width. The eyes are large and very prominent ; the antennae 

 comparatively short, measuring scarcely four inches. Femur one inch ; tibia 

 one inch ; tarsus and claws, half an inch. The edges of the thoracic shield are 

 raised, and the surface is deeply punctured and indented. The posterior edges 

 of the dorsal plates are raised, and the lower ones have a fringe of hard papillae 

 along their outer margin. All the plates are moi-e or less punctured, and the 

 whole surface presents a roughened appearance, which at once distinguishes the 

 species from D. lieteracoMtha, to which it more nearly ajDproaches. Head, 

 thorax, and body bright reddish brown, the edges of the plates darker ; 



