1874.] MR. E. C. REED ON CHILIAN COLEOPTERA. 49 



Horn, and has, as far as I can see, every right to it ; but it seems 

 that in Patagonia the Andes disappear, and there is therefore no 

 definite boundary. Again, on the north, Dr. Philippi found during 

 his journey in the desert of Atacama that the great South-American 

 backbone was utterly dislocated there ; and in place of a continuous 

 chain with a well defined water-parting, he found a plateau of con- 

 siderable height and isolated mountain cones ; and as no rain falls 

 just there, the dividing line cannot be found. 



One zoological region, however, which I may call Chili Proper, is 

 very well defined, — the desert of Atacama, in which a dozen species 

 of Coleoptera have not yet been found, being the northern boundary 

 (24° S.), the archipelago of Chonos (about 45° S.) the southern, 

 the Pacific the western, and the snowy Andes the eastern. 



The interruption of the Andean chain in Atacama has no importance 

 with regard to the insect fauna, as no species appears to be able to 

 cross that arid region. 



We have therefore to deal with a long narrow strip of land, extending 

 twenty-one degrees from north to south, with a width of but two and 

 a half degrees in its widest part, and presenting more climatic pecu- 

 liarities than, probably, any other part of the world of equal extent. 



In addition to the Andes, a coast-range runs through Chili 

 from north to south, with many peaks from 4000 to 5000 feet in 

 height. Between the Andes and the coast-range lies the " central 

 plain" of Chili, with a height above the sea of 1S00 feet at Santiago, 

 thence southwards sloping down to the sea-level at Port Montt, and 

 rising northwards to form the high tablelands of Atacama and Bolivia. 



With regard to climate, most travellers agree that it rains some- 

 times in the desert of Atacama ; but a difference of opinion exists 

 about the amount ; some state that it rains there nearly every year, 

 while Dr. Philippi states that it probably has but few showers in a 

 century. 



About Valdivia, on the other hand, little difference of opinion can 

 exist, as a week of dry weather is an exception to the rule. About 

 one hundred and twenty inches may be taken as the average yearly 

 rainfall of Valdivia. 



This abundant rainfall in the south naturally produces a varied 

 and rich flora ; but, strange to say, Chili is far from rich in insects, 

 either in species or individuals. About four thousand species of 

 vascular plants are recorded, while the Coleoptera scarcely pass two 

 thousand species ; and many of these appear to be very rare. 



Gay, the author of the • Historia Fisica y Politica de Chile,' after 

 collecting assiduously for many years, described only about 1500 

 species of insects of all orders ; and in this number he included all 

 previous descriptions that he was acquainted with, and introduced 

 many insects erroneously into the Chilian Fauna. 



On my arrival in Chili, in 1866, some 3000 species of all orders 

 were known ; and even now they scarcely reach 4000, and new 

 species are not as easily obtained as formerly. 



Owing to the gradual transition of climate in Chili it is difficult to 

 divide the country into districts or "centres;" but if this latter 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1874, No. IV. 4 



