Under-rated insects
ORE than 20,000 species of insects are found in New Zealand, including 4000 species of beetle and 1700 moth species. The fate of New Zealand's unique insect fauna is similar to that of our native birdlife. The arrival and settlement of humans, the subsequent loss of natural vegetation, and the spread of exotic predators and competitors has caused the extinction of some insects and the decline of many more. Some large insects only survive on island
refugia. The ground beetles are among our commonest beetles, the Stephens Island ground beetle Mecodema costellum pictured here, feeds on native snails in forest remnants. A close relative, the now-extinct giant ground beetle Mecodema punctellum, may have become extinct when the forests were cleared on Stephens Island and the large land snails died out.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/FORBI19911101.2.37
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Forest and Bird, Volume 22, Issue 4, 1 November 1991, Page 46
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Tapeke kupu
132Under-rated insects Forest and Bird, Volume 22, Issue 4, 1 November 1991, Page 46
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