454 
NEW ZEALAND 
summit, as did Commander Walker and Dr. Swale. The ascent is 
steep, but the track through the bush is quite wonderful; the ground 
is carpeted with ferns of many kinds, the trunks of the forest-trees 
are draped in climbing ferns, and a considerable proportion of the 
trees overhead are themselves ferns. I certainly thought that I had 
seen many ferns in Jamaica (amongst other places), but truly New 
Zealand is their head quarters. In this dense bush, which the sun 
could only pierce here and there with its rays, I saw remarkably few 
insects. The sole record that I have is that of the Geometer, *Pseudo- 
coremia productata, Walk. But as an entomologist I have long had 
a prejudice against ferns as cover for insects. 
The summit is comparatively flat and the bush more open. Here 
I came across an old friend, * G-riselinea littoralis, Raoul, a bright 
yellow-stemmed evergreen shrub that I have grown at Mortehoe for 
many years. There I have often admired its marvellous power of re¬ 
sisting the onslaughts of the sea wind, a power that seems to be due to 
the flexibility of its twigs, which is such that they may almost be tied 
into knots. In the more open bush on the summit there was a good 
deal of the Veronica salicifolia , and, as on Rangitoto, its flowers 
proved to be attractive to insects, though here no Lepidoptera were 
found on them. There was, however, abundance of the little Bee, 
Paracolletes vestitus ; a black Pompilid, Salius monctchus, Smith ; and 
three of those strange little Weevils, *Scolopterus ‘penicillatus , White, 
black fellows with sharp spikes on their elytra; if not absolutely 
indigestible, they must at least be as pungent as cayenne- 
pepper. 1 
It is curious that so very few things were to be found in such 
a promising-looking place ; neither * Chrysophanus sallustius nor 
*Deilemera amulata were at all common. -Though I saw no water 
on the mountain, there were the usual Demoiselles up to the very 
summit, 2550 ft. A Syrphid peculiar to the Dominion, * Helophilus 
ineptus , Walk; a Saropogon sp., £; and the Asilid, *Nciotamus varius, 
complete my short list. 
I descended by the more circuitous but more open carriage road, 
and, especially about halfway down, beat out a fair number of 
Geometers, of which a fraction was secured, comprising the greenish 
Asthena pulchraria, the pale grey *Coremia cineraria , Doubl., and the 
variable *JEpirrhoe deltoidata. The Tutu {Goriaria ruscifolia , Linn.) 
was the shrub which appeared to be the shelter favoured by moths. 
Near some water at the foot of the mountain I saw the first Zizera 
labradus for that day. 
1 An allied species is figured on Plate VI., Figs. 6, 7. 
