Language: English
This volume contains the first results of the research that M. Daccordi and P. M. Giachino of the Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino have carried out in Australia since 1991. In 1995 these entomologists proposed a grant application to the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei di Roma for a project entitled: “Australian Chrysomelidae and Cholevidae Coleoptera with Gondwanan affinities”. This research project was motivated by the fact that for these families of Coleoptera a type of distribution in the Australian Region has been found that could be explained in terms of the ancient connections of the Australian continent with South America and the other Gondwanan lands. In particular the entomologists of the Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino looked for new data on the origins and relationships, and confirmation of the long-standing presence in Australia, of carabid, cholevid and chrysomelid beetles. As testified by the contents of this volume, another 14 researchers in the field and laboratory extended the coverage to other groups, (Oligochaeta, Coleoptera Carabidae, Staphylinidae, Tenebrionidae, Trogidae, Geotrupidae, Hybosoridae, Scarabeidae (pars), Lucanidae, Hymenoptera Sphecidae, and Eumenidae) thus widening the scope of the investigation.
One of the principal outcomes of these years of work is the enrichment of the heritage of the whole scientific community by the 12 new genera and 112 new species that have been described in this volume.