238 



ON SOME RARE AUSTRALIAN GOMPHIN^, WITH 

 DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES. 



By R. J. TiLLYARD, M.A., F.E.S. 



(Plates xxii.-xxiii.) 



The present paper is an attempt to collect together and bring 

 up to date all the facts which have come to light concerning 

 Australian Gomphince since the publication by me, in 1905, of 

 descriptions of three new species, Austrogomphus arhustorum, A. 

 ai'enarius, and A. j)')'cisinus. 



Owing to their restricted distribution and seasonal range, the 

 members of the genus Austrogomphus are not easily studied by 

 anyone unable to visit many new localities at different periods of 

 the year. Though in temperate climates these insects are 

 restricted to a brief range of about two months, December and 

 January, yet in tropical Queensland this is not the case. A 

 locality may be visited in December, and yield several species; oa 

 a second visit, made in April or May, all those species found in 

 December will be absent, and other new species will have taken 

 their place. Whether any of these species have a long seasonal 

 range, can only be determined by continuous collecting in the 

 same locality throughout the year; at present, it is generally 

 believed that no single species of the subfamily Gomphince^ either 

 in tropical or temperate climates, has a seasonal range of more 

 than three or four months at the outside. 



Besides this fact, the peculiar habits of these insects render 

 them difficult to obtain even in the most favourable localities. 

 One day they may be found abundantly in a particular spot; but 

 a visit to the same place on an equally favourable daj^ shortly 

 afterwards may result in complete failure. Some species, whose 

 larvae swarm in the mountain creeks, are seldom seen on the 

 w4ng; and what becomes of the thousands of imagoes that must 



