( lxxiii ) 



enormous. Indeed, comparing the results obtained during 

 the last century with those of the most recent collectors, it 

 would seem that entomological collections are still in the 

 infantile period of their existence. A very few years ago 

 about 200 species of Coleoptera were known from Japan, and 

 it was thought that there would be much in common between 

 the insects of it and Europe. Mr. Lewis has discovered 

 4000 or 5000 species of beetles in the Archipelago, most of 

 which were procured in two seasons, and the great majority 

 of them are not only different from European species, but are 

 absolutely new. Mr. Pryer has published lists, from which 

 it would appear that Lepicloptera are also abundant there. 

 I think we may put the number of species of Japanese 

 Coleoptera therefore at about 8000, and the total number of 

 Japanese insects of all orders at from 15,000 to 25,000 species 

 of which we know at present less than 8000. In Central 

 America equally astonishing results have been achieved by 

 another of our Fellows, Mr. Champion; despatched thither by 

 Messrs. Godinan and Salvin for the purposes of their great 

 work on the Natural History of the region, he succeeded in 

 obtaining during four seasons fully 15,000 species of insects, 

 of which more than half, probably nearly three-quarters, are 

 new, and this although he did not exclusively confine himself 

 to collecting insects. 



Mr. Masters has just published a Catalogue of the described 

 Coleoptera of Australia ; these amount to about 7200 species ; 

 now we know, from the amount of country there that is still 

 unexplored, and the fact that the obscure Coleoptera of 

 Australia have been greatly neglected by collectors and 

 describers, that this is only a small portion of its indigenous 

 beetles ; so that it is quite probable the Coleoptera of Australia 

 may amount to 30,000 or -40,000 species, and the number of 

 insects of other orders with which we are not acquainted must 

 bring up the total to something prodigious. 



Until quite recently it has been one of the commonplaces ot 

 Zoology that New Zealand was extraordinarily poor in insects; 

 no prolonged or systematic entomological researches have yet 

 been made there, but the sporadic efforts of a number of 

 collectors have shown that this idea is quite erroneous ; and 

 I recently received from Mr. Helms about 25,000 specimens, 



