36 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Hymenoptera, Diptera, &c.) all being mixed up like the dead 

 and wounded after a shipwreck-^-some dead, others dying. The 

 queston naturally asked is, How did these insects come here ? 

 Had they been desirous of escaping from the heat of the wooded 

 shores by flying out to sea, becoming tired and blown into the 

 sea by the force of the wind ? or had they come from a long 

 distance ? And, supposing this last to be the case, how have they 

 escaped the observations of the myriads of fishes, which are 

 ever and anon popping up their heads and snapping up any 

 floating insects which they may come across. 



These and other similar matters are to my mind quite worthy 

 of discussion and investigation, and one within the scope of the 

 object sought by the original promoters of this club. 



The occurrence of insects in this colony, many of which are 

 well known to be introductions, has often puzzled me. I could of 

 course account for the introduction of timber-feeding kinds, &c.,. 

 but there are other insects which are mostly carnivorous, as the 

 Dermestidse, Blattidse, &c, which are here, and their very 

 undesirable presence is not quite so easy to account for, although 

 they have doubtless come out in the holds of ships with cargo. 

 In the matter of distribution, it is a strange fact that whilst the 

 islands of the great Malayan region teem with the most gorgeous 

 Buprestidse, the lovely islands of the Polynesian Group have but 

 few genera and species of this family, only a few species of the 

 genus Paracupta, Chalcophora, and some minor kinds having as yet 

 been discovered. (The literature on this subject being scattered 

 and often difficult to obtain, I am open to correction in any of 

 the statements regarding the recent discovery of both Polynesian 

 genera and species.) The rich islands of the West Indies are 

 comparatively poor in fine beetles, and especially in Buprestidae, 

 but in India and many parts of Africa, fine and large kinds are 

 found. The splendid genera Chrysochroa, Euchroma, and Catox- 

 antha have no representatives in either Australia or Polynesia. 

 The genus Sternocera, noted in many cases for their brilliant 

 metallic colours, is almost confined to these two portions of the 

 globe. In New Zealand, with its endless and magnificent forests 

 and all sorts of variations in geological formation, has, so far as 

 has been ascertained, produced but two species — viz., Buprestis 

 ensyi and etemita — neither of which are more than two lines in 

 length, and of a dingy colour ; whilst in the British Islands, also 

 in the cooler parts of Europe and North America, a large number 

 of genera and species, which, though in many cases are small in 

 size, are handsome — and at times very destructive, the whole 

 group being, in the larval stage, timber-borers. 



Turning again to our Australian Buprestids, we find the 

 largest, with few exceptions as Chalcophora ajax, C. vittigera, C. 

 Water honsei, Calodema regalis, and a few others which may be 



