422 M]-. D. Sharp on fie 



Since tlie above was written, I have to add that in a new type 

 of incrusting Foraniinifer discovered by Prof. Mobius, of Kiel, 

 in 1874, npon a coral-reef off Mauritius, and of which he has 

 been kind enoug-li to send me a specimen, I find not merely a 

 near approach to the mode of growth of Eozoon^ but pecu- 

 liarities of structure (some of them closely resembling the 

 Eozoic) which fully justify my refusal to be bound down by 

 our present very limited knowledge as to the " possibilities " 

 of Foraminifera. These I shall point out as soon as the 

 publication of Prof. Mobius's description of his Rhaphido- 

 (lendron album shall leave me at liberty to do so. 



L. — On the Anthribidfe of Neio Zealand. 

 By D. Sharp. 



At the present time the insect-fauna of New Zealand seems to 

 be receiving a fair share of the attention to which it is en- 

 titled by its intrinsic importance. It is well known to natu- 

 ralists that the fauna and flora of the islands in question possess 

 many features of peculiar interest ; and there is reason to 

 suppose that when the insect-fauna is adequately known it 

 will be seen to accord in its character with the other component 

 groups of the fauna and flora. 



In the present paper I deal with the species of the family 

 or subfamily of Coleoptera known as Anthribidge ; and though 

 I have only twelve new species to describe, I have not found 

 my task an altogether simple one. The greatest difliculty I 

 have had to contend with has been that of ascertaining the 

 limits of the genera and larger groups in use for the purpose of 

 classification. The family Anthribid^ itself is separated only 

 in a vague and uncertain manner from some of the other 

 families of Coleoptera ; indeed by some authorities it is con- 

 sidered to be only a subfamily of Curculionidfe ; while those 

 who accept the name as representing a distinct family are 

 not altogether agreed as to the amount of its components — 

 Lacordaire, for instance, excluding from it Urodorij which is 

 included in the family by C. J. Thomson. 



At present, however, about 430 described species compose 

 the family ; and these species are distributed among no less 

 than 108 genera, being an average of just four species to a 

 genus. The study of these genera and their groups is attended 

 with gniat difficulties ; for they are divided from one another 



