Parorchestia sylvicola (Dana).

Parorchestia sylvicola Stebbing, Das Tierreich Amphip., p. 558, 1906 (with synonymy).

Sunday Island: seven males and twelve females, “under dead nikauleaves, Expedition Hill, 26th May, 1908”; and ten males and two females, “under dead fern-leaves, Moumoukai, 27th June, 1908.”

I cannot find any point in which these specimens differ appreciably from typical New Zealand examples of this species. It will be noted that in the specimens submitted to me the males—i.e., the specimens with large second gnathopods—are more numerous than the females, though on the mainland of New Zealand males are usually very scarce. Whether this depends on the method of collecting—i.e., selecting the largest specimens—on the season of the year, or on the characteristics of a local variety I cannot say. I have elsewhere drawn attention to the similar abundance of males in the collection of different species of Parorchestia from the subantarctic islands of New Zealand (see Subant. Islands N.Z., p. 603).