216 (September, 



ANTIPODEAN FIELD NOTES. 

 Ill— A SKETCH OF THE ENTOMOLOaY OF SYDNEY, N.S.W. 



BY JAMES J. WALKER, M.A., R.N., F.L.S. 



As Sydney is the bead- quarters of the Australian Squadron, I 

 had, during the long period — nearly four years in all — in v\'hich I was 

 attached to H.M.S. " Ringarooma," frequent opportunities of collect- 

 ing and studying the insect fauna of the district surrounding this 

 great city. In the course of the ship's commission, we were at 

 Sydney at one time or other during every month in the year, and the 

 greater part of the early summers of three years, the best season by 

 far for collecting, was spent by me in Port Jackson. This enabled 

 me — with the assistance of several land friends interested in Ento- 

 mology — to amass a very considerable, and I think a fairly representa- 

 tive series of the insects of the Sydney district. As usual with me 

 the Coleoptera received the greatest share of attention, but several of 

 the other Orders were by no means neglected, and in the following 

 notes I propose to give some of my collecting experiences in this 

 productive and most interesting locality. 



Port Jackson fully deserves its reputation as one of the most 

 beautiful and picturesque harbours in the world, as well as probably 

 the most secure and commodious of them all. Its entrance, less than 

 a mile in width, between wall-like cliffs of horizontally stratified 

 sandstone 300 feet high, is especially striking, as also are its bold and 

 well-wooded shores and snug little inlets, mainly on the north side. 

 Here in many places the " bush " remains nearly in its original con- 

 dition, though of late sadly cut into by building operations in a 

 rapidly growing suburb. A large extent of wild land, however, is 

 fortunately reserved for military purposes, and is thus not likely to 

 be interfered with for a long time. The land on the south side of the 

 harbour below Sydney is on the whole lower than that opposite, and 

 includes a considerable extent of shifting and almost bare sand-hills, 

 extending for nearly two miles eastward to the fine ocean beach at 

 Bondi. 



The city of Sydney is built on undulating ground about six miles 

 from the entrance of the harbour, but its suburbs extend for a great 

 distance southward and westward, in the latter direction extending 

 almost to Parramatta, about twelve miles from the site of the original 

 settlement at Sydney Cove — now known as " Circular Quay," and one 

 of the busiest landing-places in the world. Still, even within the 

 city boundaries there are many fine open spaces and parks ; and the 



