420 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
place to place. It is called kopi, from its power of shutting 
itself up in a bag. 
Orthoptera. —The blatta (Americana ) has been introduced ; a 
kind indigenous to New Zealand, closely resembles the Aus¬ 
tralian one. The kekeriru (cimex nemoralis ) is a large black one 
chiefly inhabiting the forest, but found in wooden and raupo 
buildings. The smell of this insect is intolerable. It is also 
found in the Isle of France, where it is called the kakerlac. 
Neuroptera (Libella). — Kapokapowai , kekewai, a large dra¬ 
gon fly ; in summer, it is frequently seen in great numbers on 
the sea shore ; probably when a swarm of them are exhausted, 
they fall into the sea, and are thus washed on shore by the 
tide. There is also a small blue and red dragon fly, similar 
to the English kinds. 
Hymenoptera (formica). — Pokorua and popokorua. There 
is a large red ant, and a minute small one ; a large black kind, 
with another extremely diminutive. The white ant is also 
found. But none of these are in sufficient abundance to be 
troublesome. I have likewise met with the formica leo in 
several localities; it is, I believe, identical with that of Aus¬ 
tralia and Europe. 
Hemiptera. — Kiri whenua, a garden bug: several varieties 
are found in the woods and in the fern. 
Lepidoptera. — Pepe. There are perhaps twenty varieties of 
the butterfly, but so thinly scattered, that, excepting a few 
kinds, they are seldom seen; the rarest are found on the 
mountains. Amongst the most beautiful of the butterflies 
found in the North Island are the Vanessa Goner ilia ^ Vanessa 
Itea, Cynthia Cardui (the painted lady). It is remarkable that 
this beautiful insect is identical in New Zealand, Australia, 
and Europe ; the precise number of spots is found in each. 
The Polyommatus Edna also closely resembles one of our 
European butterflies. In the Middle Island, a fine large 
butterfly is found which somewhat resembles the purple 
emperor ; a blue argus is also seen on the high mountains. 
Two sphinx moths also are found; one is very common, feed¬ 
ing on the kumara leaves (convolvolus batata). There is no 
white butterfly in New Zealand. Amongst the moths, by 
