21 



Order Coleoptera. — The " Catalogue of the described Coleoptera 

 of Australia," by Masters (1871-1874), enumerates 5,607 species of 

 beetles of all kinds, which are distributed among 57 families ; of these 

 592 species, belonging to 36 families, occur in South Australia. The 

 largest groups represented by our Coleopterous fauna are — Carabidee, 103 

 species, being 11 "8 per cent, of the total of Australian species ; Bupres- 

 tidae, 59, or 176 per cent. ; C urculionidae, 122, or 140 per cent. ; Ceram- 

 bycidte, 111, or 27 - per cent. ; Tenebrionidae, 48, or 11*7 per cent. 



Some of the families are very disproportionately represented ; thus 

 ■we have only 1 out of 78 Australian Staphylinidae, and 11 out of 157 

 Elateridas, but 26 out of 60 Anthicidse. This circumstance is explained 

 partly by the fact that the Australian species of certain families have 

 not been monographed, and partly because collectors have not interested 

 themselves about certain others. 



A large number of our South Australian beetles will be found 

 described in — " The Entomologist," by Newman (1842) ; '• Transactions 

 Entomological Soc. of New South Wales," by Maoleay, tw* vols. ; 

 "Notes on Australian Coleoptera," by Castelnau, Trans. Roy. Soc. 

 Victoria, vol. 8, pp. 30-38 and 95-225 (1867-68). 



" The Journal of the Linnean Society of London " contains the 

 following papers relating to Australian Coleoptera : — " Description? [of 

 new species of Stigmodera," by E. Saunders, vol. ix., 1867, two plates. 

 This paper contains the characters and figures of fifty undescribed species 

 of the genus Stigmodera from Australia ; five of the n3w species occur at 

 Adelaide. " Contributions towards a knowledge of the Curculionidae," 

 by F. Pascoe, part i., vol. x., 1869, three plates. Seventy-nine Austra- 

 lian species are described, about one-half figured ; fifteen of the species 

 are recorded from South Australian localities. Part n., vol. xi., 1871, 

 our plates, contains descriptions of twenty-one new Australian species, 

 four of which are stated to have been collected in this neighbourhood. 

 Part in., vol. ix., 1872, four plates, contains descriptions of thirty-two 

 unrecorded Australian species, three of which are South Australian. 

 In the appendix to (f) " Captain King's Coasts of Australia, 1827," will 

 be found a "Catalogue of Insects," by W. Sharp MacLeay, including 

 descriptions of new species, but unaccompanied with illustrations, and 

 without localities. The Coleoptera number 108, the majority of which 

 are new. (f) " Discoveries in Australia," by Commander Stokes, two 

 vols., 1846. An appendix to vol. i. of this work is devoted to " Descrip- 

 tions of new or unfigured species of Coleoptera," by A. White. Eightee 

 species are illustrated by two plates, and described. 



