Search for rare beetle in mountains

Press, 12 November 1981, Page 3

Search for rare beetle in mountains

PA Dunedin A party of scientists plans to spend this week-end searching the Hector Mountains for a rare beetle. The only specimen of a velvety brown scarab beetle discovered was found in 1938 by Mr M. Foord, of Dunedin. Now, 43 years later, Mr Foord is leading a team of 11 entomologists back to the same area in the Hector Mountains where the beetle was found, in an effort to discover more specimens. ’ Mr Foord discovered the original specimen under a stone when he was collecting beetles in the upper Nevis Valley, and in spite of the time elapsed since the discovery he is optimistic that the beetle species still exists. “I think the brown scarab beetle will still be in the area because the environment has not altered. The beetle lives at a high altitude which is not grazed by sheep, and there are no deer that could have disturbed the beetle,” he said.

The brown scarab beetle, although part of the same family as the sacred scarab beetle of ancient Egypt, is most closely linked to the Cromwell chafer beetle. The party of entomologists will use two methods to search for the brown scarab. First, they will search under stones, because the barren environment high up in the mountains means that beetles seek shelter under loose stones. Second, the scientists will bury a lot of tins level with the ground so that beetles which crawl about at night fall into the tins and are captured. "If the brown scarab has habits similar to those of the Cromwell chafer, they will crawl out of their burrows about 10 p.m. to search for food,” Mr Foord said. The only existing specimen of brown scarab is held in the New Zealand insect collection in Mount Albert, Auckland.