463 



li. Mittheilungen aus Museen, Instituten etc. 



Linnean Society of New South Wales. 



September 27 th. 1899. — 1) Revision of the Australian Curculionidae 

 belonging to the Subfamily Gryptorhynchides. Part iv. By Arthur M. Lea. 

 — This contribution comprises descriptions oi Psepholax and allied genera, a 

 group sparingly represented in Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Lord 

 Howe and Norfolk Islands, but comparatively numerous in New Zealand. 

 Altogether nine genera and fourteen species are described ; of the former four are 

 proposed as new^ and one is a new record for Australia; of the latter fourteen 

 are described, of which eight are regarded as new. — (2) Revision of the 

 Genus Paropsis. Part v. By Rev. T. Blackburn, B.A., Corr. Mem. The 

 difficulties attending the study of the genus Paropsis are found to culminate 

 in the fifth and sixth Subgroups herein treated of. The insects are for the 

 most part of very fragile texture, and dry into extremely variable shapes ac- 

 cording to their condition at the time of death ; they are also very liable to 

 be afi'ected in respect of their sculpture by immersion in spirit. Moreover 

 when alive they are adorned with bright metallic colours which fade after 

 death into a uniform brownish or testaceous tint. These characteristics have, 

 except in a few instances, either not been known to, or have not sufficiently 

 been allowed for by the entomologists who have given attention to the genus, so 

 that there are few descriptions extant which can be confidently identified with 

 actual specimens. Thirty-one species are tabulated and discussed, of which 

 twelve are proposed as new. — Mr. H e die y exhibited Neothauma^ Parame- 

 lania, and Typhobia, freshwater shells from Lake Tanganyika, and explained 

 the views of Mr. J. E. S, Moore, who regards these forms as survivals of a 

 marine Jurassic fauna. — Mr. W. J. Rainbow exhibited, by kind permis- 

 sion of the Curator of the Australian Museum, a living specimen of the 

 beautiful s'^ìàer Dicrostichus magnificus^ together with one of its "egg-bags" 

 or cocoons. This species was described and figured, from a spirit specimen, 

 in the Proceedings for 1897 (pp. 523-4, pi. XVII figs. 8, 8a, 8Ô, and the 

 nest and egg-bags were figured in the text on pages 537 and 538). In ad- 

 dition to the yellow patches on the abdomen mentioned in the description, 

 it is now to be noticed that the animal has, when alive, a group of large red 

 spots in front, and at the centre a series of small red spots and markings. — 

 Mr. Froggatt exhibited a shoe-horn destroyed by the larvae of the "Museum 

 beetle" [Ant/ireims]; and a collection of the cocoons of an apparently unde- 

 scvibed case-moth [Entometa sp.) upon a piece of the central portion of a 

 hollow tree from North Queensland. The cocoons are covered with sand 

 and grass stalks. — Mr. Stead exhibited a series of beautifully mounted 

 Port Jackson Crustaceans and their appendages, and gave a brief description 

 of the habits of the animals. The following species were represented: — 

 Grapsus variegatus, Latr.; Plagusia chabrus^ Miers; P. glabra^ Dana; Ozitis 

 t>-uncatus, M.-Edw,; Chasmagnathus laevis, Dana ; Leptodius exarafns, M.-Edw.; 

 Mycteris longicarpus, Latr.; Helaecius cordiformis, Dana; and Petrolisthes. 



III. Personal -Notizen. 



Necrologe. 



Am 14. August starb in Graz Karl Bernhard Brühl, 79 Jahre alt, 

 früher Professor der Zootomie in Wien. 



