Proportion of Male and Female Specimens

Counts of male and female specimens of H. iris taken from Karori Light, The Runaround and Sinclair Head were as follows:

Date	Locality	Male	Female	Ratio
2/5/46	Karori Light	251	176	1.42
3/6/46	Sinclair Head	48	38	1.26
-/6/46	The Runaround	53	32	1.62
	Total	352	246	1.43 average

Stephenson (1924) examined 127 specimens of H. tuberculata and found the proportion of males to females was 50 to 71. This gives a ratio of 0.7.

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It is possible that the difference in relative proportions of males to females shown in the above figures was due to the different season at which they were taken. Stephenson (1924) obtained his specimens during the summer while the writer's figures are taken from specimens collected in the winter. Until a count can be taken in the summer from the Wellington areas no satisfactory comparison can be made between the two sets of figures.