The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 6 (October 1, 1932.)
Hobbies Corner. — Interesting Insects
Hobbies Corner.
Interesting Insects.
Spring finds the butterflies with us and some of the finest specimens are with Mr. C. E. Clarke, the entomologist at the Auckland Memorial Museum.
I am sure you would like to visit Mr. Clarke in his room. On his piled-up desks, amongst his microscopes, nets, setting-boards and books, are bottles of fearsome looking bugs and snakes preserved in spirits. These are always being sent to him from various parts of the world. It is a good thing they are safely corked up and quite dead. They look terribly fierce.
“Before I show you the butterflies, have a look at these moths,” says Mr. Clarke as he pulls out drawer after drawer. Moths! thousands of them, from white shimmering midgets to big beauties, which certainly would startle you if they came flopping around your lamps at night. One of the prettiest is the green Puriri moth. It settles on the well-known Puriri tree which has big dark green leaves. The Puriri caterpillar bores tunnels through the trunks. Over the trap-door it weaves a boll, a tough and silky covering which resembles a scar or marking of the tree bark. The caterpillar and its tunnel is then completely hidden from enemies.
New Zealand's most beautiful butterfly is the Hypolimnas bolina which has been found in the Waitakere Ranges, near Auckland. It is dark blue with large heliotrope and white spots.
The “Wanderer” butterfly, which is found in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America and Australia, is occasionally found in New Zealand. It's wings are four inches across and are ochre coloured with black tracings and spotted with dots.
“On one visit to Adelaide” says Mr. Clarke, “I caught sight of one of these Wanderers just as I arrived. Dropping my suitcase, I ran after it and caught it under my hat.”
Have you ever caught one of these?
Next month Mr. Clarke will tell us some most interesting and unusual facts about our native birds and his explorations in the heart of Southland.
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