Notes on the genus lissotes, with descriptions of new species

This genus of stag-beetles is almost confined to Tasmania (a single species being known from Victoria and two from New Zealand), and in certain districts and seasons almost every old log will be found to cover some specimens of it. Almost all the species, as with most of its sub-family, are very variable in size, in the shape of the mandibles, and in the tibial dentition, so that it appears as if there are many more species than really exist; in consequence several forms of the same species have been described under different names, and in all probability mistakes in this respect will continue to be made, except, possibly even, by those who have large series under examination.
Except in the case of a few very distinct species, it appears unsafe to identify single specimens of the genus from the published figures and descriptions, or to describe such specimens as new. Long series of many species have convinced me that all, or most of them, have numerous varieties, that without intermediate forms appear to be distinct, but which by such intermediate forms can quite readily be recognised as varieties only.