Composition and Distribution of Insect Faunas of the World. 1. Notogaean Kingdom

This chapter is dealing with the Notogaean Kingdom, one of the four major zoogeographic entities distinguished in the world fauna. In the regionalization system proposed by the author, this kingdom includes the Australian, New Zealand, and Chilean-Patagonian zoogeographic regions. The composition of its insect fauna together with the underlying historical and ecological factors is described, with emphasis on the common features that determine its integrity, as well as the differences between its constituent parts. The zoogeographic analysis is largely based on the material of several insect taxa best studied or best known to the author in this respect: the beetle families Carabidae, Tenebrionidae, Cerambycidae, Curculionidae, the orders Orthoptera and Lepidoptera, and some others. Certain endemic taxa characteristic of individual zoogeographic units are also discussed.