2 40.00. M. Daccordi and P. M. Giachino of the Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino published in two volumes the first results of the research that they carried out in Australia in cooperation with Australian scientists and institutions since 1991 based on a grant application to the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei di Roma for the project entitled "Australian Chrysomelidae and Cholevidae Coleoptera with Gondwanan affinities". The aims of this project are to collect new data on the origin, relationships, and long-standing presence of carabid, cholevid and chrysomelid beetles in Australia that can explain ancient connections of the Australian continent with South America and the other parts of Gondwana land. The 'Preface' of the first volume describes the logistic of the project, the investigated environments, collection techniques, the kinds of investigations carried out, and notes on the colonisation of Australia including geological, palaeoclimatic and zoogeographical information of the region and Gondwana land. M. Daccordi published four articles on Chrysomelinae (one co-authored by D. W. de Little) and P. M. Giachino wrote four articles on Carabidae (one coauthored by R. Garetto) and one article on Liodidae Cholevinae, co-authored by S. B. Peck, in the first volume. The editors co-operated with other 14 researchers to include also data from other animal groups such as Oligochaeta [B. Sambugar & A. M.