January 1925
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23 Reads
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12 Citations
Twelve years have passed since I attempted a revision of the Tasmanian Lepidoptera.* The inception of the Biological Survey of Tasmanian has recalled me to this task. Much new material has been collected, of which most came from three summer visits which I made in 1935, 1937, and 1938, supplemented by a collect-ing trip made by Mr. G. M. Goldfinch, of Sydney, this year, Unfortunately resident collectors in the island are still very few. I received some specimens from Mr. I. Harman, who resided several years at Snug, near Hobart. Capt. D. C. Pearse has given me valu-able assistance, and I have received specimens also from Mr. and Mrs. Davis (G. and C. Davis). Among the older collectors mentioned in my revision, I omitted to mention Mr. A Simson, who reared some interesting species from larvae in the Launceston district. Altogether these additions have considerably increased our know-ledge of the island Iepidoptera, and of their range of distribution. Of the butterflies and larger moths our knowledge appears fairly complete. Though new species of the latter are still being dis-covered, their number is comparatively small. On the other hand, many new microlepidoptera have been added to our list. This sec-tion is still imperfectly known, and many new discoveries await the collector. An example of this is the new species of Phyllocnistis, recently found in his own garden by Dr. V. V. Hickman, of Hobart, University. He has made valuable observations on its life history. Very little has yet been done in the study of the larvae in Tasmania.