The two remaining groups of the Diptera are of very limited extent. The _Pupipara_ include a few anomalous species, in which the young are not deposited until they become pupæ, thus undergoing all their transformations within the body of the parent, while the _Pulicina_ comprise the well-known fleas, which are probably identical with the European species. They are placed by many authors in a distinct order termed the _Aphaniptera_. {65}CHAPTER VI The Lepidoptera. This Order includes the well-known Butterflies and Moths which are the first insects to arrest attention on account of their beautiful colouring and conspicuous appearance. Some of the families are fairly numerous in New Zealand, but the diurnal section is decidedly poorly represented, our total number of butterflies being limited to fifteen, of which one (_Diadema nerina_) has unquestionably been introduced from Australia, although it will doubtless shortly effect a permanent settlement in the Nelson district, where several specimens have recently been observed. Among the others only four species can be called at all common, the remaining twelve only occurring in certain favoured localities. Of the moths there are a large number, chiefly belonging to the Geometridæ and Micro-Lepidoptera, many of which are very interesting. Of the life-histories of the latter, however, I regret to say there is little known at present, the attention of naturalists having been hitherto chiefly occupied with the larger and more conspicuous species. Group RHOPALOCERA. Family NYMPHALIDÆ. _Argyrophenga antipodum_ (Plate VIII., fig. 1 type, 1a var.). Passing over the local but conspicuous _Danais plexippus_, {66}about which so much doubt exists as to its origin in this country, we come to _A. antipodum_, one of the most curious and interesting butterflies found in New Zealand. It occurs in great abundance amongst the tussock grass on the plains in the South Island, but becomes an alpine species further north. I have taken a very peculiar form (Fig. 1a) on the "Mineral Belt" near Nelson, but can find no record of its appearance in the North Island at present. Its larva is as yet unknown, but in all probability it feeds on tussock grass, a fractured pupa having been found attached to that plant by Mr. G. F. Mathew in January, 1884. Two other closely allied species are _Erebia pluto_ and _Erebia butleri_, both strictly alpine insects, occurring in the South Island at elevations ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 feet. Family NYMPHALIDÆ. _Vanessa gonerilla_[15] (Plate VIII., fig. 2, 2a underside, 2b 2c larvæ, 2d 2e pupæ).