Art. XXI.–Diptera of the Kermadec Islands.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 46, 1913, Page 125

Art. XXI.–Diptera of the Kermadec Islands. By David Miller. [Read before the Otago Institute, 7th October, 1913.] Some time ago a collection of Diptera from the Kermadec Islands was sent to me for identification by Dr. Hilgendorf, of Lincoln College. These flies were collected on Sunday Island by Mr. W. L. Wallace, a member of Mr. R. B. Oliver's expedition to the Kermadecs during 1908. A number are common to the Kermadec Islands, Australia, and New Zealand, but there are no types of the last country among the collection. Unfortunately, the greater part of this collection is seriously damaged, so that the following brief list is all that can be drawn up.

Fam Syrphidae. Syrphus novae-zealandiae. Three males and two females. One specimen captured on toetoe, Denham Bay, 20th August; four specimens captured while hovering over Solanum and Tongan bean on No. 3 Terrace, north coast, 24th August. Common in still, bright weather. Abundant throughout New Zealand and found in Polynesia. Syrphus viridiceps. Three males and one female. Captured hovering over Solanum, in sunshine, on No. 3 Terrace, 16th September. A male and female taken in coitu. This species is found both in Austra Ia and New Zealand, and is identical with Captain Hutton's S. obesus. Fam. Anthomyidae. Ophyra nigra. Two males and four females. Common. Two specimens caught in sunshine on ngaio-tree, Denham Bay, 20th August; four from the carcase of a goat, north coast, 9th November. Common about dead sheep in Western Australia, but not, so far, found in New Zealand. Fam. Dexiidae. Dexia rubricarinata. Five males and four females. Captured from the carcase of a goat, north coast, 9th November. An extremely abundant and very troublesome fly. This species has a wide distribution from China, through the East Indies, Australia, Tasmania, and the Kermadecs, to New Zealand. I procured a large number at Astrolabe during the summer of 1911. Fam. Muscidae. Calliphora laemica. Five males and six females. Abundant in sunny places all over the island. The specimens were captured while flying in a warm cave, known as the Oven Cave, on the shores of the Green Lake, in the crater, 30th October. Common in Australia, Polynesia, and New Zealand. There are also a number of the Muscidae acalyptratae which I am unable to identify at present. The Nemocera are represented by two species of Culicidae, a Tipulid, and some species of the Mycetophilidae, all of which are so much damaged that identification, beyond the families, is impossible.

Crntropiiorus Pluxketi Waite