A 42-year-old Ponsonby man accused of stabbing a woman in the city-fringe suburb last night received copious wasp stings while he tried to evade police.
Police and an ambulance were called to a Ponsonby street just before 10.30pm.
A woman in her 40s had suffered abdominal stab wounds, a St John spokeswoman said, and was taken to Auckland City Hospital in a serious condition.
A hospital spokesperson said the woman was this morning in a stable condition.
Her alleged attacked also had to be treated, said police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty.
"The accused appears to have stumbled across a wasp hive at the rear of a property after the incident when he was trying to evade police," she said.
She said the man and woman were "associates" and had been drinking alcohol before the incident
The man, a Vermont St resident, was due to appear in Auckland District Court today charged with grievous bodily harm.
His name was yet to be released by police.
The Criminal Investigation Branch resumed their investigations into the incident this morning.