Lord Howe Island— Paramonov 
81 
FIG. 2. Mount Gower. Showing the nearly vertical slope and type of vegetation along the shore. Photo: 
Miss Zenta Liepa. 
erally after the presence of only some months, 
they disappear (for more details see M. Nicholls, 
1953). 
It is evident that the niches on the island 
suitable for them are too small for their survival. 
THE MAIN GOAL OF THE NATURALIST’S 
EXPLORATION 
The most interesting parts of the island, the 
summits of Mt. Lidgbird and Mt. Gower, are 
practically unexplored. Only a few naturalists 
have reached the summits, and their visits were 
mostly of a tourist character. Nobody has stayed 
in these areas very long, visits usually being con- 
fined to only a few hours, so naturally we have 
a very insufficient and superficial knowledge of 
the fauna and flora, which are quite different 
from those of the lower part of the island. 
Especially interesting is the summit of Mount 
Gower, which is very different from that of Mt. 
Lidgbird. The top of Mt. Gower is a compara- 
tively flat area several hundred acres in extent, 
whereas the summit of Mt. Lidgbird consists 
practically only of slopes. 
Two "runs” on the summit of Mt. Gower 
converge and disappear over the sheer cliffs, fall- 
ing perhaps a thousand feet into the Erskine 
Valley. The water trickling down them is sup- 
plied direct from the clouds which so com- 
monly envelop the mountain tops. Investigation 
of this area can produce extremely interesting 
data. For example, there is the record of a nymph 
of the family Pelorididae (Homoptera), the 
species of which are distributed in Patagonia, 
Tierra del Fuego, New Zealand, Tasmania, and 
the eastern part of Queensland. The representa- 
tives of this family belong to the genus Hemi- 
odoecus China: 2 species from Australia: H. 
veitchi and H. toils oni, 2 species from Tasmania: 
H. leai and H. fidelis . Xenophyes cascus Bergr. 
