422 ^Ir. D. Sharp o» tie 



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

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

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

 been kind enough 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 Bhaphido- 

 dendron album shall leave me at liberty to do so. 



L. — On the Anthribidse of New 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 Avhich it is en- 

 titled by its inti-insic 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 Anthribidee ; and though 

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

 my task an altogether simple one. The greatest difficulty 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 Anthribidae 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 Curculionidae ; 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 Urodon, 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 great difficulties j for they are divided from one another 



