N.Z. Animal Life

Forest and Bird, Issue 138, 1 November 1960, Page 9

N.Z. Animal Life

A wide variety of types of animal life mainly found in the New Zealand forests was illustrated by Dr. R. R. Forster in a talk last July. The speaker introduced his lecture by showing colour slides of the different kinds of environment in New Zealand in which these creatures were found, ranging from the beech forests of Fiordland through tussock country, the bare hillsides of Central Otago and the dry beech forests of Canterbury with little fern or undergrowth, to the lush subtropical rain forest of Westland. The South Island grey spotted kiwi was shown, and the speaker said that this bird had been recently found to be more common than had previously been believed. A takahe with which Dr. Forster and his companions had become quite friendly had obligingly posed for an excellent photograph. New Zealand is apparently very rich in beetles, no less than 4,000 different ones so far having been scientifically named. The pupa of the largest of our beetles, the huhu, was shown in an old

log, all parts of the future adult beetle being seen quite clearly at this stage. An interesting member of the beetle family was shown, so ingeniously camouflaged that it was very difficult to distinguish from its surroundings. Four to five thousand different moths have been noted in New Zealand, but there is a noticeable scarcity of butterfly species. The red admiral, which breeds on stinging nettles, is found only in New Zealand, but the yellow admiral is an introduced species from Australia. The monarch butterfly, which has now spread further south in the country, came to New Zealand of its own accord about 80 years ago. Originally an American species, it is now found in almost all parts of the world. Numbers of spiders were described, including trap-door spiders, of which there are many kinds native to the country. Some live on the bark of trees, the tunnel being made of silk, and having a trap door at each end.. Some are to be found about a foot down in the ground, the trap door being at the top of the tunnel and cunningly concealed. Some trapdoor spiders have a body of IJ4 to 2 inches long. Wolf spiders, nursery-web spiders, jumping varieties, orb-web and crab spiders were shown and their different habits explained. The largest kind of wolf spider would almost span a bread-and-butter plate, and can be seen to walk across water. A great many other interesting types of insects were seen and described. The weta, of which there are 40 to 50 kinds, although of a very fearsome aspect, is of herbivorous habit. Frogs, lizards, including skinks, short-toed geckos and the pretty little green tree geckos, and the tuatara —sole survivor of a very ancient line of saurians—were the most interesting of the other slides illustrated. These insects and other animals are all intimately connected with the plants in. and on which they are found, plants and animals (both large and small) together forming a marvellously integrated system.