76 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [Mar., '22 



Notes on the Occurrence and Distribution of Ant- 

 arctic Land Arthropods (Springtails and 

 Mites : Collembola and Acarina). 



By H. E. EWING, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department 



of Agriculture. 



Although vast in extent, the south polar region and more 

 especially the Antarctic Continent itself, is remarkably devoid 

 of any extensive land flora or fauna. Our knowledge of the 

 occurrence of land arthropoda on this continent is in reality 

 quite meager. Almost all of the land species so far discovered 

 in this region belong to two orders, the Collembola and the 

 Acarina. 



Statements to the effect that winged insects do not occur in 

 the Antarctic Region are not strictly correct, for Racovitza 

 reported a dipteron taken by the Antarctic expedition of the 

 "Belgica" (1897-1898), and Keilin has recently pointed out 

 that Racovitza had not one but two species. One of these 

 species, according to Keilin, belongs to the family Chironomidae 

 and the other to the family Sciaridae. The reason for this 

 apparent mistake by Racovitza was that he presumed that the 

 larvae accompanying the adult, which he determined as Belgica 

 antarctica Jacobs, were of the same species as the imago. Keilin 

 has made a special study of B. antarctica, and states that it 

 occurs along the strait of Gerlache between 64 and 65 27' 

 south latitude. This is south and somewhat east of Cape Horn. 



Several species of Collembola have been taken in the Ant- 

 arctic, and one of these as far south on the continent itself as 

 Granite Harbor, 77 S. lat. and 162 E. long., on the south- 

 trending continental coast-line of Victoria Land. The sig- 

 nificance of the distribution of the Collembola of the Antarctic 

 Region has been very ably discussed by Carpenter, who notes, 

 among other things, that the groups of springtails represented, 

 that were at one time considered characteristically arctic or 

 subarctic, are now known to occur in many places either on the 

 American continents or adjacent islands. This would seem to 

 indicate a former land connection between the Antarctic and 

 South American continents. Carpenter states: "We cannot 



