AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 
It will readily be seen that a somewhat random collection of obscure insects 
of the kind here represented cannot be adequately dealt with by any single entomologist, 
even if the material is presented to him in the best possible condition of preservation 
for the study of the various groups. It was clear to me from the very first that I could 
only deal with certain groups myself, and would have to rely on the co-operation of 
recognised specialists for the working out of the remainder. 
The Collembola appealed 
to me as a group in the knowledge of which much progress has been made during the 
past twenty years, and on which, with practically all the important literature within 
reach, I might reasonably venture to try my hand, though without previous experience 
of the somewhat special technique required. There were also some larval and pupal 
forms in other Orders, which I have undertaken to figure and describe, seeing that such 
forms do not demand that extensive knowledge of the groups to which they belong, 
which would be necessary as an equipment before one could deal with the corresponding 
imagines (not represented in the collection). I have also figured and discussed, without 
naming, a small species of Psychoda (Diptera Nemocera) found in one of the tubes, 
but not noted as belonging to its contents by the collector, who may be presumed to 
have known what was put into each tube. I think that this insect was probably 
floating in the liquid medium poured into the tube, and may therefore have come 
originally from any part of the world, or may have bred out from the ship’s bilge-water. 
It is certainly not like any of the species of this genus known to me from Australia. 
Besides this, I have, at Professor Brues’s own suggestion, added some remarks 
about his new Diapriid, together with figures which I made before sending the insect 
tohim. I have also given a figure to illustrate Mr. Lea’s description of his new Staphy- 
linid, and have added a short description and figures of the larva, which was found with 
the beetle itself on the island. 
The collection contains no set or pinned specimens, but consists only of nineteen 
small tubes of material preserved in liquid media, some being in 4 per cent. formalin, 
and some in 70 per cent. alcohol. Five of the tubes were found to contain material 
such as mites, crustacea, egg-capsules and egys, which could not be dealt with in this 
paper. Thus there remained only fourteen tubes containing insect specimens. Of 
these, only nine contain imagines, the rest being larvee or pupe. 
The Orders represented are the following :— 
COLLEMBOLA.—Three species. 
HYMENOPTERA.—One species. 
COLEOPTERA.—One species (larva and imago). 
LEPIDOPTERA.—One species (larva only). 
DIPTERA.—Six species, one of which is represented only by larvee and pupe. 
In order to visualise the conditions under which this insect fauna was collected, 
it is only necessary to refer to the chapters on Macquarie Island in Sir D. Mawson’s 
