NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB

Evening Star, Issue 19711, 11 November 1927, Page 3

NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB

SATURDAY'S OUTING The outing on Saturday Inst was held under ndca! weather conditions along the coast between St. Clair and Blackhead. The plants along the dills arc always interesting, though as yet they are not in lull flower. There were not many sea birds on the wing, and the common pigeon .seems to have established itself along one part of the coast.

The chief study of the afternoon was geology, and Mr Tily led a parly as far as the tunnel leading to the beach, and explained the principal geological features cn route. The rock surfaces exposed showed clearly the rock groups of the Dunedin district. The first point noted was the existence of a faulty traincating the spur between the first and _ second beaches. In consequence of this fault sandstone was exposed on the roadside on both sides of the spur, and a stratum of dolcrito which occurs in the cliffs beyond the second beach, 300 ft or so above sea level, was found cut through by the beach road. As the ascent of the cliffs beyond the second beach was made the sequence of the principal volcanic strata was observed. From a promontory further on a view looking backwards was obtained of the junction of the sedimentary rock with the igneous rock. It was noted that the surface of junction dipped into the sea and was unconformablo to the volcanic strata above which were approximately horizontal. It was also noted that the lower basalt layers had thinned out where the sandstone rose to the top of the cliffs, for here the doicrite rested immediately on ' the sandstone. At the tunnel a descent was made to tin beach, where the jointing of the sandstone and its consequences on the erosion of the cliffs were observed. INDOOR. MEETING.

At the indoor meeting held on Monday evening Miss E. M. Logie gavean interesting lecture on some entomological work she had done while on holiday in the Gore district. Bliss Logie Stated that if a collector were seeking for a particular kind of insect ho might at times return from the quest with empty boxes, but if his intention was simply to collect insects, there were few places in the world where the search would lie fruitless. Bliss Logic was not in search of any insect in particular, and collecting began the day after her arrival when she noticed a patch of moth eggs on a piece of muslin stretched across an 'open window to keep out mosquitoes. In about ten days’ time the caterpillars emerged, and it was then necessary to pin a variety of plants on tho

curtain so that the caterpillars could choose the one which was their natural food. They settled on plantain, and it was then an easy matter to lift them into a jar. Unfortunately, tho native bush was all in tbc distance, the nearest hill was almost completely covered in broom. There were some small native plants, however,_ none of which showed marks of having been eaten, and it was probable that tussock grass was the food plant of several different kinds of caterpillars. The meadow brown butterfly was quite plentiful. The only place where treacle could ho used was on fence posts. One warm night a window was left wide open and the light turned on. Soon a number of moths and myriads of flies flew in. Tin’s experiment was not repeated. The beetles were brown in color and of the largest species occurring in New Zealand. The grub bored through timber either fallen or stand-, ing, but not when the tree was grow-, ing in a healthy stale. The insect flew at dusk and came to the light. On the hill nearby one or two grasshoppers were taken and also a few wasps and crancflies. On sunny days small dragon flies darted about near the ponds, but tho large dragon flies were seen only once. One sunny afternoon _ the beautiful creatures soared high in the air, now and then coming a’ little nearer the earth, but always just a little beyond the net. A chelifer (or false scorpion), which is a link between tho spicier and the scorpion, was taken. It preyed on small insects, but spun no web. Bliss Logic terminated her lecture by giving a few facts concerning the various orders to which the insects collected belonged. A number of illustrations (including some of BIU* Logic’s own handiwork) were thrown on the, screen, and several cases of mounted specimens were handed rotnd.