THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 37 



termed tropical, to be found in the driest and most arid parts of 

 Victoria, South and Western Australia, the most showy kinds of 

 the group being actually found in what may fairly be described as 

 desert country, but as we proceed towards the Kimberley district, 

 in the N.W., the Buprestidse are few, small, and in many cases 

 approach the smaller kinds of tropical Australia, although several 

 of our finest and largest Victorian species are also found in 

 Queensland, but hardly ever extending very far north. In the 

 catalogue lately issued by Mr. Masters, and of which I have 

 before spoken, the total number of described genera of 

 Buprestidse is 35, the total number of species being 414, of which 

 number our colony is only credited with 7 genera and 33 species ; 

 and, with the new species lately described by various authors, I 

 think that we may fairly assume that there are now about between 

 700 and 800 species known to science as coming from 

 Au.tralia, and as I proceed with the second portion of this paper 

 I shall endeavour, with the aid of my own collection and those 

 of my entomological friends, to point out a large number of 

 authenticated species as having been taken in Victoria, such 

 additions only to be recognized upon the testimony of those who 

 have made the capture themselves, or can furnish authentic data 

 for their statements as to the specimens having been taken in the 

 colony. 



I trust therefore that any member of the club having such 

 specimens will bring them forward, so that the matter of their 

 geographical range may be determined, and the same remark will 

 apply to other families of the Coleoptera, and I can only hope 

 that some of our entomological members will, at no distant date, 

 follow up the present series of papers with their own observations 

 on the distribution of the remaining orders of the Coleoptera. 



With regard to the plan which I propose to adopt, I have 

 thought it better to follow the most modern system of classifying 

 the various genera, by placing them in systematic sequence 

 according to their natural affinities, and I intend, as far as 

 possible, to exhibit specimens of the various genera, both 

 Australian and extra-Australian — the latter, at least, so far as they 

 are required for the purposes of illustration and comparison. 



The Conservator of Forests is making extensive reservations in 

 the mallee districts, for the purpose of creating forest reservations 

 in that treeless part of the colony. A nursery is now being 

 established at Gunbower Island, on the Murray, near Koondrook, 

 with the view of growing sugar gums and other trees suitable for 

 warm climates, and as soon as they are sufficiently advanced they 

 will be planted on the reservations referred to in the mallee 

 districts, and farmers in that part of Victoria will also be supplied 

 with trees from the nursery. 



