THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 23 



Mr, C. Yelland, Fitzroy — A shark's mouth ; also, pair of young 

 emus (mounted). 



About half-past ten the visitors began to disperse, having spent 

 a very pleasant and instructive evening, 



NOTES ON VICTORIAN AND QUEENSLAND 

 LEPIDOPTERA. 



By Dr. T. P. Lucas, Bri sbane. 



(Read before the Field Naturalist^ Club of Victoria, \\th May, 



i888.y 

 Thinking that you may care to hear from an old comrade, and 

 especially respecting- the gems of scientific beauty to be met with 

 in Brisbane, I have taken the present opportunity of a rainy 

 day to jot down a few notes. The first thing which strikes a 

 collector of wide experience is the great similarity between the 

 collecting grounds of Brisbane proper, the Fernshaw district, 

 and the Gippsland ranges of Victoria. Brisbane is about 25ft. 

 above sea level. It is surrounded by suburbs of hill and dale. 

 Deep gorges and winding gullies extend on every hand. There 

 is evidence, I think, of continued and extended volcanic action 

 in Mesozoic and Neozoic times. As you may surmise, the 

 scenery on such a basis, and with a sub-tropical climate and 

 vegetation, is charming and grand. In the immediate vicinity 

 of Brisbane, the forests are being cut down, and even the after 

 growth copses are giving way to cottage and garden. It is 

 surprising to see new centres of suburban life, as villages 

 among the deep gorges, rising on every side. But as the 

 hills towards the horizon rise higher and higher, no amount of 

 building can destroy the glorious scenery of the ever-varying 

 landscape. Ferns, tree orchids, lilies, and multitudinous 

 flowers reward the searching botanist. It is an easy matter to 

 go for a walk and collect twenty to thirty or more varieties of 

 ferns in a day. New Zealand is noted for ferns, yet I believe 

 we have a larger number of species in Queensland than there 

 are in all New Zealand. 



Brisbane appears to me to be a sort of central meeting point, 

 where the various zoological zones converge. As I have 

 hinted, the thousand feet zone of Upper Gippsland and Dan- 

 denong zoology crosses here. I noticed, when collecting at 

 Upper Moe, that many Queensland types came down last year, 

 but I attributed the same to the hot season. I was delighted 

 to see the Agarista agricola, with its glories of yellow and 

 orange and red and blue on a black velvet basis in a wood at 

 Upper Moe. Surely the design for painting on black satin was 

 carried from this moth. Then the Pipilio sienelaus tormfented 

 collectors by flying high, and ever escaping capture. But here 

 in Brisbane both insects are common, difficult to catch unless 



