154 GouDiE, Coleoptera of North-Western Victoria. P 



ict. Nat. 

 Dec. 



In Masters' " Catalogue of the Described Coleoptera of Aus- 

 tralia " there are 58 genera, containing 261 species, of water- 

 beetles enumerated. Mr. A. M. Lea, in the Proc. A.A.A.S., 

 1902, records 27 species for Tasmania, 7 of which are indicated 

 as being peculiar to the island. 



In the present paper 17 named species are recorded lor the 

 Birchip-Sea Lake area, or, including 3 specifically unidentified 

 — viz., one each of Copelatus, Berosus, and Paracymus — 20 

 species. It will thus be seen that, while comparing favour- 

 ably with Tasmania, in relation to the rest of the continent the 

 number of species occurring in the Mallee districts is but few. 

 On the other hand, some species are individually extremely 

 plentiful, the writer having at times seen nearly dried-up water- 

 holes literally "moving'' with water-beetles of perhaps two or 

 three species. The extension of the channels for supplying 

 water to the Mallee, which connect with the Wimmera River 

 in the south and with the Murray in the north, has been the 

 means of introducing a few species which previously were not 

 known to occur here. 



The existing records of the distribution in Australia of this 

 section of the Coleoptera leave much to be desired in the way 

 of precise information, some of the earlier describers appearing 

 to consider " Australia " a sufficiently definite locality when 

 working up their material. Nowadays a specimen thus 

 labelled might almost as well have no label. There is plenty 

 of opportunity for collectors to do good work in this direction 

 by drawing up lists of the species occurring in their respective 

 districts, carefully recording the date of capture, thus paving 

 the way to a correct estimate of the limits of distribution and 

 breeding habits, &c., of any particular species. 



Kirby has well remarked that " the collector's province may 

 be exhausted in a few years, the observer's never ; " and this 

 applies with special aptitude to Australia, where climatic and 

 other conditions are so varied and animal and vegetable life 

 so abundant. 



The water-beetles fall naturally into three groups or families 

 — viz., Dytiscidae, Gyrinid?e. and Hydrophilidae — each defined 

 by certain peculiarities of form or structure, and for information 

 concerning which the reader may be referred to that splendid 

 work, " Australian Insects," by W. W. Froggatt, Government 

 Entomologist of New South Wales — a book, by the way, which 

 cannot fail to delight anyone interested in entomology. 



DYTISCID^. 



964. Haliplus gibbus, Clark (Nov.) 

 A strongly convex, oval species, about /_, of an inch in length, 

 of a pale yellow colour, each elytron being marked with eight 

 jines or rows of very distinct punctures. 



