[Proc. Rot. Soc. Victoria, 27 (N.S.). Pt. II., 1914]. 



Art. XVII. — Notes on Amy derides, ivitJi Descriptions of 



New Species. 



[Pakt XL] 



By EUSTACE W. FERGUSON, M.B., Ch.M. 



[Read November 12th. 191-i]. 



A. — Notes on t/ie disfribufion of the suhfamily in Victoria. 



The study of the distribution of most of the groups of our 

 Australian insect fauna, is as yet only at a beginning. In the 

 Coleoptera many thousands of species have been described and are 

 being described yearly, and yet, so far, little work has been done 

 towards the correlation of the facts of distribution, their depen- 

 dence on natural barriers, food supply and other factors. It is 

 true, of course, that much is known about the habits and distribu- 

 tion of mjany groups ; thus the Carenides, as also the Helaeides, are 

 well known to be interior forms, lovers of the inland slopes and 

 dry plains of the interior, whole other forms such as Notonomus 

 and Cardiothorax are denizens of the well-watered eastern slopes 

 and coastal scrubs. Viewed thus broadly the Amycterides are 

 typical inland forms, rich in species on the mountain ranges, 

 fewer in species, but widely distributed, over the inland plains. 

 It is not my purpose here to discuss in detail the distribution of the 

 subfamily; but certain facts or deductions may be mentioned, in 

 order to facilitate a discussion of the distribution in Victoria. In 

 this connection it may be mentioned that much light will probably 

 be brought to bear on the subject by the application of Mr. R. J. 

 Tillyard's scheme of Specific Contours ; so far lack of sufficient 

 data has prevented more than a very general outlining of the 

 contours. 



From a consideration of the present distribution it is obvious 

 that, while the subfamily originally developed from a common 

 source, secondary zoocentres have now developed, resulting in 

 several types of distribution, all of them, according to Mr. 

 Tillyard's scheme, entogenic in character. 



The genus G uhicorrhynchus represents the most generalised type 

 of distribution, it occurs in all the States and appears to be equally 



