138 



I shall give another example, which shows that it sometimes requires a 

 little observation to know oiir insect friends from our insect foes. One year, 

 when the hop-aphis Avas very destructive in Kent, the Kentish folks noticed 

 great numbers of lady-bird beetles on the hops, so they immediately concluded 

 that they were the origin, or at least, partially the cause of the evil, and 

 destroyed nximbers of them. This was, however, far from being correct, for 

 the lady-birds live on the real culprits, the aphides. I mention this fact 

 because the aphis is already a nuisance here, and because there is also a 

 lady-bird which I have seen on two different occasions in the act of sucking a 

 juicy aphis. This pretty little lady-bird is the only representative of the 

 Coccinellida I have observed in Otago, and it seems to be widely distributed 

 over the province. It is little more than half the size of the commonest 

 British variety {Coccinella septem punctata), is coloured black, and has twelve 

 orange spots on the elytree, and two on the thorax. 



"We have many other insects which are injurious, though their effects may 

 not be so apparent, or so widely spread, as is the damage caused by those I 

 have just mentioned. Thus, v/e have beetles which are destructive to the 

 timber, and others which injure the foliage of our trees. Indeed, I have seen 

 some willow trees almost completely denuded of their leaves by a little brilliant 

 green beetle. The grasshopper, too, which in some parts of the province 

 swarms in countless numbers, must devour a large quantity of valuable grass. 



There are also several insects of very strange appearance to be found in 

 Otago. Oue of these is the "walking-stick" of the colonists, which is an 

 apterous insect, belonging to the order Ortlioptera, and the tribe Phasiuma. 

 It derives its name fi'om its extraordinary resemblance to a twig ; it is usually 

 about an inch and a half long, but one specimen which I have seen was nearly 

 six inches in length ; again, the ]3upa of the native cicada, or, as it is commonly 

 called, the singing locust, presents a very remarkable appearance. It is found 

 in the groiind, is active, and in form greatly resembles the perfect insect, only it 

 is without wings, and is provided with a pair of huge claws like those of a lobster, 

 which give it an exceedingly ferocious appearance ; but whether they are used 

 for carnivorous purposes or only for cutting the roots of plants I do not know. 

 The pupa works its way out of the ground before the cicada bursts forth, and 

 the empty cases may frequently be observed sticking to a tree or post. The 

 sharp chirruping noise made by the perfect insects must be familiar to all. 

 The Otago cicada has a peculiarity which is noticed in the variety common in 

 the south of Europe by an old Greek poet, and which is, that these loquacious 

 gentlemen "all have voiceless wives." 



I have never been able to meet with a classified list of New Zealand 

 insects, and whether or not such a thing exists I am unable to ascertain. 

 If a list has ever been published, I have no doubt of its being a very imperfect 

 one, Hochstetter mentions that there are 215 genera, including 265 species, 



