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ON SOME REMARKABLE AUSTRALIAN CORDU- 

 LIINjE, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES. 



By R. J. Tillyard, M.A., F.E.S. 



(Plates xxi.-xxii.) 



In comparison with their rarity in other parts of the world, 

 one is struck with the number and remarkable variety of the 

 Australian Corduliince. In his work on the Corduliince of the 

 de Selys' Collection,* Rene Martin gives 136 species as the total 

 number so far discovered in the whole world. If we add to these 

 three new species of Synthemisf which I have since described, 

 and the five new species described in this paper, we obtain a 

 total of 144 species, of which 28, or approximately one fifth, are 

 Australian. But of the total number of species of Odonata known 

 to inhabit the world (roughly 2,500), Australia possesses only 

 160, or approximately one-sixteenth of the total. 



During my last visit to North Queensland I was very fortunate 

 in obtaining the remarkable species described in this paper. 

 Owing to the continuous tropical rains, my material is but 

 scanty; in two cases I have only the unique male type; in one 

 the female only, in another two males; and in another two males 

 and a female. The species are, however, so remarkable and 

 distinct that I hasten to put them on record, and hope to add 

 further specimens and to supply the missing sexes on a future 

 occasion. Besides the five new species, I was fortunate in obtain- 



* Coll. Zool. du baron Ed. de Selys-Longchamps, Fasc. xvii., Cordulines, 

 Brussels, Hayez, 1906. 



t S. nigra (" New Australian Species of the Family Libellulidse," these 

 Proceedings, 1906, xxxi., p.488); S. Martini, S. cyanitincta (" Dragonflies 

 of S.W. Australia," these Proceedings, 1907, xxxii. pp.724, 726). 

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