117 



with stiif hairs ; antennte short, springing laterally from jDeculiar, almost 

 club-shaped, processes, placed iu oval cavities immediately above the mouth ; 

 these processes ai-e destitute of hairs, and are attached to the forehead by 

 separate pivot joints, independent of those upon which the antennae turn ; 

 thorax black, and generally hairy, with a few stiff longish hairs scattered over 

 the surface ; abdomen deep metallic blue, with stiff hairs symmetrically set all 

 over it ; the wings at the point of attachment have a yellowish hue, and the 

 halteres are yellow ; legs black, and covered with stiff hairs ; fourth joint of 

 the tarsus bilobed ; terminal joint bearing two claws at the tip, with a smaller 

 spurious claw between them, projecting beyond the outer margin of the 

 pul villi, which, between the larger claws, are hollowed into a semicircle. 

 Length 7 lines, by 4 lines. 



From this description, it will at once be seen that this fly differs matei"ially 

 from that described by Dieffenbach, in his short account of the natural history 

 of these Islands, as the " Blue-bottle-fiy," and that it is not the same as that 

 which is described by Mr. Taylor in Te Ikci a Maui, under the name of 

 " Musca {sarcophaga) Iceniica, or Kango of the natives." There is a blue 

 fly in these Islands which is viviparous, but which is much smaller than 

 that known as the common Blue-bottle. It appears, moreover, to be confined 

 to warm localities, and is seldom seen except during the summer and autumn 

 months. As the result of enquiries amongst the natives (who are in general 

 very observant of facts in natural history), I was at one time induced to 

 believe that the Blue-bottle-fly (the subject of these notes) was not indigenous. 

 They stated that this fly, with the common house-fly and certain flies which 

 more particularly infest imported European animals, were all brought to the 

 Islands by trading vessels from Australia, but, although I fully believe this 

 in regard to several of these insects, I doubt it as regards the Blue-bottle-fly, 

 for reasons which will be manifest from these notes. 



For example, I may state (and this fact will be confirmed by every bush 

 traveller and explorer in these Islands) that there is scarcely an attainable 

 locality in which it is not to be found. I, myself, have seen it in the midst of 

 dense forests, never before trodden by the foot of man, far removed from every 

 habitation, whether native or European, and to which no cattle could ever 

 have had access ; in river coui\ses, presenting for miles a mei-e expanse of 

 naked sand and shingle ; and, stranger still, upon the very summits of 

 mountains composed of bare rock, and rising above the line of per2Detual snow. 

 In fact, within a few minutes after the explorer has sat down to rest, wherever 

 the situation may be and whatever the season of the year, he is sure, if the 

 weather be dry, to hear the hum of these busy active creatures as they gather 

 around him. As an illustration of how fully they are looked for, I extract the 

 following passage from Louper's account of the late Mr. Whitcombe's journey 

 to the West Coast : — " We soon reached a dry spot, opened our swags, and laid 



