PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION D. 269 



Bay and from Peak Dowus, North Australia. It is probable that this 

 latter species, A. producta, Esch., occurs throughout the centre of the 

 continent. Besides these two, the genus contains four species from 

 Oentral America, one from Hawaii, and one which is now world-wide 

 in the tropics, and which is very destructive to paper and books. 



The genus Atopatelura contains three species from South-west 

 Australia, and one from Africa. 



Atelura is a genus all of whose species live either in the nests of 

 ants or of termites, nine being known from the former, and four from the 

 latter. Two species occur in Western Australia, arA it is probable 

 that the species which Froggatt calls Lepisma cursitans is really a third 

 member of this genus. Species of Atelura occur in all the regions of the 

 globe, but are best represented in South America and South Africa, 



The most interesting form found in Australia up to the present is 

 a blind species without scales, which Silvestri has placed in a new genus 

 under the name of Trinemura novae-hollandiae. It comes near to 

 Trinemophora, with a single species from South America. 



Before leaving the Lepismatidae it will be worth while to summarize 

 the geographical relationships of the Australia)! forms. Of the five 

 genera, Heterolepisma, with four species, is found also in South 

 America (two species), Atopatelura, with three species, is found in 

 South Africa (one species), Acrotelsa, with two species, occurs also in 

 North and South America (three and two species respectively), Atelura, 

 with two species, is found in all the regions of the globe, but especially 

 in South America (four species), and South Africa (five species), whilst 

 Trinemura, with one species, is. peculiar and comes nearest to Trinemo- 

 phora, with one species, from South America. 



We thus see that the Lepismatidae form one more link in the chain 

 of e'^/idence which shows that the Antarctic continent was formerly 

 connected with the three great southern land- masses. For, of our 

 five genera, four are represented in South America, and two in South 

 Africa, and only two extend into the northern hemisphere. 



The remaining family of Thysan.ura, the Machilidae, is represented 

 in Australia by Allomachilis froggatti, Silv., of New South Wales. 



The Collembola, or Spring-tails, are a much larger group than 

 the Thysanura. They are all very small insects, and from their minute 

 size and considerable leaps are not very easy to catch. They have 

 been almost completely neglected by the ordinary collectors, and 

 consequently our knowledge of their geographical distribution is much 

 more limited than that concerning the Thysanura. 



They are specially abundant in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, 

 and, to a less extent, in Antarctic latitudes. Like many other minute 

 animals, some species of Collembola are distributed practically through- 

 out the world, or at any rate have been met with wherever a considerable 

 collection of Collembola has been formed. 



