''Pharmacus montanus'', the Mount Cook flea, is a type of cave wētā found above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It was first described by Francois Jules Pictet de la Rive and

Henri Saussure Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Montm ...

in 1893. ''Pharmacus montanus'' is one of the most widespread species within the genus, found from Aoraki/

Mount Cook Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

to Mt Owen in northern South Island (

Kahurangi National Park Kahurangi National Park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand is the second largest of the thirteen national parks of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers , ranging to near Golden Bay in the north. Much of what was the ...

). The highest recorded specimens of this species are from a population between 2700 and 2800 m above sea level on Mt Annan above the

Tasman Glacier Haupapa / Tasman Glacier is the largest glacier in New Zealand, and one of several large glaciers which flow south and east towards the Mackenzie Basin from the Southern Alps in New Zealand's South Island. Geography At in length, Tasman Glacie ...

References

Kirby, W.F. (1906) Orthoptera Saltatoria. Part I. (Achetidae et Phasgonuridae.), A Synonymic Catalogue of Orthoptera (Orthoptera Saltatoria, Locustidae vel Acridiidae), British Museum (Natural History), London 2:i-viii, 1-562 Karny In Wytsman d.(1937) Orthoptera Fam. Gryllacrididae, Subfamiliae Omnes, Genera Insectorum, V. Verteneuil & L. Desmet, Brussels 206:1-317 Pictet & Saussure (1893) De quelques orthoptères nouveaux, Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft (Mitt. Schweiz. Ent. Gesellsch.) 8:293-318, pls. 1-2 Hutton (1896) The Stenopelmatidæ of New Zealand., Transactions of the New Zealand Institute (Trans. N. Zeal. Inst.) 29:208-242 Richards, A.M. (1972), Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand (J. Roy. Soc. New Zealand) 2(2) Johns In Burrows (1977), Cass: History and Science . . . Univ. Canturbury Christchurch, Cass: History and Science, Univ. Canturbury, Christchurch, New Zealand Hutton (1904), Index Faunae Novae Zealandiae, Index Faunae Novae Zealandiae Dumbleton (1935), N. Z. Alpine Jour. 6(22) Dumbleton (1952), New Zealand Entomologist (New Zealand Ent.) 1(2) Dumbleton In Connor (1966), Mount Cook National Park, Mount Cook National Park Miller, D. (1971), Common Insects New Zealand, New Zealand xix + 178 pp. ''OrthopteraSF: Orthoptera Species File''. Eades D.C., Otte D., Cigliano M.M., Braun H., 2010-04-28 {{Taxonbar, from=Q10626657 Rhaphidophoridae Cave weta