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Dr. Stoner found one of the best places for collecting insects in a hilly preserve know as "The Domain" which was not far from Auckland. While in the perserve, he noted that if it was not for the tree ferns and green native trees, it closely resembled late October in Iowa. As he walked along the various trails, he observed rotten logs and stumps that provided ample places for collecting many kinds of insects.On a trip to the zoological park in Wellington, he had the opportunity to see a large number of animals. A few observations are note below:
- Tuataras were exhibited. These lizards form a link between the ancient saurians and the modern reptiles and are the only species in the order. They are indigenous to New Zealand and those that remain occupy a number of rocky islets near the main land. They are protected by the government and special permission from the Minister of Internal Affairs is necessary in order to take specimens.
- In regard to the flightless kiwi, at one time twenty-three species existed in New Zealand. Now all are extinct except for the Apteryx and of these only four or five types are recognizable. He lamented the demise of the gigantic and flightless moas that existed three or four hunderd years ago and roamed among the volcanic hills. Yet, their miniatures remain in the present fauna of the island, the vanishing kiwi.
Apteryx or Kiwi
- Currently, a considerable number of introduced birds come mostly from Europe and Australia and most have been able to maintain themselves. Some example included the European starling, mynah, and European skylark. From Australia there was the yellow-hammer.
- The most active and abundant native birds is the beautiful little white-eye Zosterops lateralis. It has proved most valuable because it is an insect destroyer. It first appeared in 1856 and has become a great favorite. It frequents gardens, orchards and other cultivated areas.
Zosterops lateralis (Wikipedia)
As time was drawing near to leave New Zealand, Stoner desperately wanted to obtain some samples of what he described as "peculiar and aberrant" slug-like arthropod called Peripatus. But so far after searching at various sites he had not obtained any. He was advised to go to Wilton's Bush, a government preserve of native forest. So a few days before departure, he left Wellington and ventured northwest of the city. It was a naturalist's delight with its deep valleys, woods of remu, tawa, and mati, partly clearled and burned over areas with large decaying limbs and trunks of trees. Yellow flowers added a touch of color and a beautiful clear stream traveled a path. With a heavy collecting knife, he prodded the various stumps and logs. After much probing deep into a well-rotted interior of an old remu log, he finally retrieved his quarry.
Peripatus
The creature is cylindrical, velvety-black and a inch and a half in length. There are about fifty species known and scientists consider them to be a kind of "missing link" between certain worms and air-breathing arthropods. But Stoner asserted that it is probably more of an offshoot from one of the lower branches at the base of the arthropodan family tree. The skin of the New Zealand species is deeply pigmented on top and thickly spotted with reddish brown.
As a result Stoner secured, with two and one-half day trips to the site and assistance from his wife and Dominion Museum staff, over one hundred specimens of Peripatus. He later published an account of his collecting in the journal Science: "Collecting Peripatus in New Zealand," D. Stoner, Science 2 November 1923: 341-342. (DOI:10.1126/science.58.1505.341).
