42 
The Queensland Naturalist. 
Oct., 192 r 
The interior of Australia as conceived by the lepidop- 
terist is a vast area comprising, I suppose, some four-fifths; 
of the continent. Its limits are the western slopes of the- 
dividing range, but on its borders coastal and inland species- 
mingle over a wide stretch of country. To the south it 
reaches the coast on the shores of the Australian Bight. 
Of its western limit's I know little, but imagine that they 
are analogous to those on the east. Along dry coastal belts, 
such as about Townsville and in North-west Australia many 
inland species may occur. Indeed the inland species being, 
often migratory on account of climatic conditions, it is not 
surprising that they may visit many parts of the coast in 
dry seasons. If the interior comprises four-fifths of the 
continent, the coastal districts may be said to comprise four- 
fifths of the lepidoptera. Nevertheless, the interior fauna 
is richer than has been supposed. I divide its species into- 
three groups, distinguished in the list given below by the 
letters a, b, and c. 
(a) really comprises two groups which I am not able 
to distinguish from each other — (1) coastal species which 
have spread inland, and (2) species which are common to 
both regions, but often more abundant inland. These last 
are the section of the fauna which is particularly conspicu- 
ous to the casual observer. 
(b) species, whose real home is in the interior, but 
frequently visit the coast, where they vary in numbers 
according to the season. It is not always easy to distinguish 
this group from the preceding, but it may usually be done. 
1 include here, for instance, Elodina padusa , Deilephila 
line at a, Ipanica cor nig era, and Eremochroa alphitias. 
(c) the genera and species peculiar to the interior not 
found in coastal districts except as rare visitors. Here I 
include such genera as Jlopliocnema, Eremochroa, Niguza,. 
and TlialainodeSf and many species of genera of more 
general distribution. 
The real object of this paper has been a general one — 
to show how much the study of any part of nature adds to 
the interest of life. There are many people who have no- 
idea what an interesting world, and what an interesting 
part of the world, they live in. To dispel this ignorance is, 
I think, the main object of the Naturalists ’ Club. I also 
wanted to point out how imperfect is our knowledge of the 
living creatures found in Australia, and how readily any- 
one, especially anyone living at a distance from a capital 
city, can assist in increasing this knowledge. 
In the following list the letters a, b, and c refer to the 
groups mentioned above; the numerals refer to localities 
as follows: — 1 Charleville, 2 Cunnamulla, 3 Adavale, 4 
