2 MR. R. J. TILLYARD : LIFE-HISTORIES AND 



dni-ino- the last five or six years. New species have been described in shorter 

 papers as they cnme along ; but there still remain some interesting additions, 

 which find a place here. 



The material studied is almost wholly in my own collection, or has been 

 there at some time, many o£ the specimens having been sent out to vaiious 

 correspondents. Nearly all the specimens have been collected by myself ; 

 but I must not minimize the importance of consignments sent to me by 

 several o-enerous correspondents from various parts of Australia. These, 

 thou oh small in number, have often contained rare species which I myself 

 could not obtain. A complete list is given in an appendix, the name of the 

 sender beino- given in brackets in each case. In this connection, I desire 

 to acknowledge the generous help which I have received from Dr. A. J. 

 Turner, the late Mr. H. Elgner, and Messrs. E. Allen, S. Angel, G. F. 

 Berthoud, H. J. Carter, F. P. Dodd, C. Goldfinch, H. Hacker, G. Lyell, 

 E. A. C. Olive, and G. A. Waterhouse. I also desire to thank Dr. R. 

 Hamlyn-Harris, Director of the Queensland Museum, and Mr. Robert Hall, 

 Curator of the Hobart Museum, for allowing me the opportunity of studying 

 two unique specimens. Finally, for valuable help in the preparation of 

 photooraphs, and for much useful advice on the same, I am indebted to 

 Miss M. Reinhold, Dr. F. Ris, and Mr. F. W. Carpenter. 



The headquarters of the Australian yEsrlmhup are undoubtedly the 

 mountain fastnesses of the South-East, with their extensions northwards 

 throuoh New South Wales and Queensland, mostly close to and parallel to 

 the coast-line. Many of the species may be considered sub-alpine, being- 

 found up to the 5000-feet level, and possibly higher. They exhibit a variety 

 of form and coloration far greater than that found in similar groups in other 

 reo'ions. In particular, the species that inhabit the coldest climates exhibit 

 the most brilliant colouring ; while a very distinct tendenc}^ towards a general 

 darkenino-, both of ground-colour and markings, is noticeable in the more 

 northern forms. The number of known species (twenty-six) bears a greater 

 proportion to the total number of Australian Odonata than might be expected 

 from the small size of the subfamily. This is wholly due to the magnificent 

 development of the autochthonous genus Austrocvsrlina and its allies. 



Before entering on the main portion of this paper, I have to indicate what 

 is to my mind, a very necessary alteration in the accepted Comstock- 

 Needham notation for the wing-venation of this group. On page 721 of his 

 now famous paper * Professor J. B. Needham notes the fact that, in all the 

 larval winos of Anlsoptera examined by him, trachea ^1 joins trachea Cu 

 close to the base, and runs along with it for some distance before branching 

 off downwards. I have found the same thing to occur in all the Anisopterid 



* " A Genealogic Study of Dragojfly Wiiig--Yenatioii," Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. xxvi. (1903) 

 w. 703. 



