An Elementary Manual of New Zealand Entomology

Part 1

Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text.

Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (italics). Page numbers enclosed by curly braces (example: {25}) have been incorporated to facilitate the use of the General Index.

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Frontispiece.

Fig. 1. Bolitophila luminosa. 1a. Larva, 1b. Pupa.

AN ELEMENTARY

MANUAL

NEW ZEALAND ENTOMOLOGY.

BEING

An Introduction to the Study

OUR NATIVE INSECTS.

WITH 21 COLOURED PLATES.

G. V. HUDSON, F.E.S.,

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND.

London:

WEST, NEWMAN, & CO., 54, HATTON GARDEN.

1892.

THE RIGHT HON. LORD WALSINGHAM,

M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S.,

LATE PRESIDENT OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON,

THIS LITTLE BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

The object of the present volume is to give a brief account of the Natural History of the insects inhabiting New Zealand in a form intelligible to the ordinary reader. For this reason every effort has been made to avoid all unnecessary technicalities, and to adapt the book as far as possible to the requirements of youthful entomologists and collectors.

Several very elaborate systematic lists and descriptions have been published from time to time of the insects of New Zealand, amongst which may be specially mentioned--Captain Broun's "Manual of New Zealand Coleoptera," the illustrated "Catalogue of New Zealand Butterflies," edited by Mr. Enys, and Mr. Meyrick's "Monographs" of various groups of the Lepidoptera; but as yet no attempt has been made to present the subject in a suitable form for beginners.

It is hoped that this book will, to some extent, fill up the blank, and help to render what is now one of the most popular natural sciences in Europe, equally appreciated in New Zealand.

The author is much indebted to Captain Broun, Mr. R. W. Fereday, Mr. E. Meyrick, and others, for assistance in identifying the various species mentioned in this work.

Wellington, New Zealand, 1891.

Part 2

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. PAGE

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 1

CHAPTER II.

COLLECTING INSECTS 9

CHAPTER III.

THE COLEOPTERA 19

CHAPTER IV.

THE HYMENOPTERA 33

CHAPTER V.

THE DIPTERA 40

CHAPTER VI.

THE LEPIDOPTERA 65

CHAPTER VII.

THE NEUROPTERA 99

CHAPTER VIII.

THE ORTHOPTERA 103

CHAPTER IX.

THE HEMIPTERA 118

GENERAL INDEX 123

EXPLANATION OF PLATES 129

{1}AN

ELEMENTARY MANUAL

NEW ZEALAND ENTOMOLOGY.

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CHAPTER I

General Observations.

In the present chapter I propose to give a brief sketch of the general principles of Entomology, including a rudimentary glance at the anatomy and classification of insects; after which I think the reader will be in a better position to study the habits and life-histories of the individual species which follow.

Part 3

The first requisite is a definition of what constitutes an INSECT.

An Insect is an articulate animal having the body divided into three distinct divisions, viz., the HEAD (Fig. I. A), the THORAX (B), and the ABDOMEN (C). It is furnished with three pairs of legs, and generally has two pairs of wings, and to acquire this structure the creature passes through several changes, termed its metamorphoses. {2}The head exhibits no distinct divisions, but bears the following appendages: the eyes, antennæ, and organs of the mouth, or trophi.

The eyes are of two kinds, compound and simple. The former (Fig. I. c c) are situated on the sides of the head above the mouth, and consist of two large hemispheres, composed of a great number of hexagonal divisions, each of which is a complete eye in itself. The latter (s s) are usually three in number, and are situated on the top of the head between the compound ones. They are, however, frequently wanting.

The antennæ (a) are two jointed organs, one of which is placed on each side of the head, between the eyes; their functions are at present extremely doubtful, but they are invariably found in all insects.

The organs of the mouth consist of the following: the labrum (Fig. II. 3), or upper lip, a horny plate, closing the mouth from above; the mandibles (1 1), or upper jaws, two strong bent hooks, articulated to the head on each side of the mouth, and opposed to one another like scissor blades; the maxillæ (2 2), or under jaws, resembling the mandibles, but more delicately constructed, and furnished with a pair of jointed appendages termed maxillary palpi (5 5); and the labium (4), or lower lip, consisting of a horny plate somewhat resembling the labrum, but provided with two jointed appendages termed the labial palpi (6 6). All these organs are subject to great modification in suctorial insects, which I shall notice further on, when dealing with the differences between the various orders.

The thorax consists of three primary divisions, viz., the prothorax (Fig. I. b), mesothorax (d), and metathorax (k). The upper surfaces of these are termed the pronotum, mesonotum, and metanotum respectively, and the under the prosternum, mesosternum, and metasternum; other divisions exist in some insects, but they are not of a sufficiently {3}general character to be noticed here. The six legs are attached to the under surface of the thorax, a single pair to each division; they are composed of the following joints: coxa (Fig. I. n), trochanter (o), femur (p), tibia (r), and tarsus (s).

{4}The wings are attached to the meso- and metanotum; they consist of two membranes traversed by numerous horny ribs (Fig. I. 1W and 2W).

The abdomen is made up of nine segments (C 1 to 9), some of which are not infrequently wanting. It contains the organs of nutrition, circulation, and generation.

The digestive system, the structure of which is apparent from Fig. II., consists of the following divisions: the throat, or oesophagus (8); the crop (9); the gizzard, or proventriculus (10); the pancreas (11 11); the stomach, or ventriculus (12); the biliary vessels (13 13 13); the ilium, or little gut (14 14); and the colon (15); ending in the anus (16). In the suctorial tribes, the crop is modified into a very peculiar organ, termed the sucking stomach, which presents itself as a small bag, attached to the throat by a thin tube. This bag exhausts the air from the throat, when the insect is sucking, thus producing a vacuum therein, and causing a rapid ascent of fluid into the stomach.

The heart of insects consists of an elongated tube lying along the back, and termed the dorsal vessel. It is composed of a variable number of chambers, the blood being driven forward towards the head by its contractions. These motions may be easily seen in transparent species.

The breathing organs are distributed throughout the body in the form of numerous minute air-tubes, which are supplied with air from a variable number of apertures, situated on the sides of the insect, and termed spiracles.

The nervous system consists of a chain of ganglia, running down the ventral surface of the insect, and analogous to the spinal cord of higher animals. The number of ganglia varies greatly among the different tribes.

The metamorphosis of insects, which I have previously mentioned as one of their most essential attributes, consists of four distinct stages, viz., the Egg, Larva, Pupa, and Imago.

{5}The eggs of these animals exhibit a great diversity in shape among the different species. They are deposited by the parent with unerring instinct on substances suitable for the food of the larvæ, which, in the majority of cases, is quite different from that on which she herself subsists.

The larva state immediately succeeds the egg, and is spent almost exclusively in feeding, the insect growing at a great rate, and being frequently compelled to change its skin.

The pupa is usually completely quiescent, the insect being at this time quite incapable of any motion, except, perhaps, a slight twirling of its abdomen. Exceptions to this rule occur, however, in two of the orders, in which the pupa state does not differ materially from that preceding it.

In the imago, or perfect state, the insect appears under its final form, with every organ completely developed.

We will now consider the seven great divisions, or Orders, into which insects are divided, the complete knowledge of which is one of the most important elements in the entomologist's preliminary education. I trust that by a careful perusal of the following definitions, aided by references to the Plates, which illustrate numerous members of each order in their several states, the reader will be enabled to master the subject without much difficulty.

ORDER I.--COLEOPTERA.

Wings four; the anterior pair (termed elytra) horny and opaque, the posterior membranous, and employed in flight; mouth masticatory. The larva a grub with or without legs, but a distinct head always present. The pupa inactive, taking no food, the limbs of the future insect enclosed in distinct cases, and applied closely to the body. This is the largest of the Orders, and consists of all those insects popularly known as Beetles. (Plates I. and II.)

{6}ORDER II.--HYMENOPTERA.

Wings four, membranous, the posterior pair being the smaller, and connected with the anterior during flight by a row of minute hooklets; mouth masticatory, the maxillæ and labium being elongated, in many of the families, into a long sucking instrument or "tongue." Metamorphosis as in the Coleoptera. A large Order, containing the numerous tribes of Sawflies, Bees, Wasps, Ants, and Ichneumon-flies. (Plate III.)

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