Revision of tJie Australian A'phodiides. 151 



to the front declivity quite evenly, without a trace of a defined 

 margin. An examination of my comparatively small collection 

 of Aphodiides from other parts of the world leads me to the 

 opinion that this is an impoi'tant character for dividing the 

 Apliodiid genera into groups, although I do not find it referred 

 to by Lacordaire or Erichson (who both furnished tabulations of 

 the Aphodiid genera known to them), nor is it mentioned in any 

 of the works in my possession of de Harold. 



This cosmopolitan genus (containing some cosmopolitan species) 

 is not, so far as I can judge, very numerously represented in 

 Australia. Master's Catalogue enumerates 7 species (2 of them 

 certainly introduced), 6 have been added subsequently, and I 

 now have 4 more to add, making a total of 17. As the Aphodii 

 are easily collected, and neither very small nor very obscure 

 insects, it is unlikely that an exceptionally large proportion of 

 them have hitherto escaped notice. When it is remembered, 

 then, that Erichson enumerated (A.D. 1848) 79 species as known 

 in Germany alone, it certainly appears likely that Australia is 

 not rich in the genus. As far as I know all the 17 names 

 represent valid species. 



Of the described species 4 are unknown (or only doubtfully 

 known) to nie, viz., albertisi, Har.; australasiae, Bohem.; candezei, 

 Har.; and erosus, Er. I am not able to place them in the 

 following table on account of the structure of their eyes not 

 having been sufficiently indicated by their authors. I there- 

 fore supply the following notes on them. 



A. ALBKRTISI, Har. 



I have specimens from tropical Queensland (Harold's locality) 

 of an Aphodius which must, I think, be very near Albertisi, but 

 as it departs from the description in several details of punctura- 

 tion I cannot confidently identify it. The elytral interstices 

 {e.^.) of Albertisi are described as " lisses," while those of the 

 specimens before me are, under a good lens, distinctly (tiiough 

 very finely) punctulate. In the following tabulation the speci- 

 mens before me fall beside A. granarius and frenchi, differing 

 from both by their testaceo-ferruginous color, from the former by 

 the very distinct puncturation of their pronotum and from the 

 latter by the much greater sparseness of the same. 



