The relationship between the palaearctic and nearctic faunas 257 



it seems appropriate to make a closer inspection of their beetle faunas (tab. 7, 

 diagr. 7). We are now in a far more favourable position than in 1931, since at least 

 a preliminary survey has been made of the Coleoptera of Baffin Island (Brown, 

 1937). This insect order, even from other points of view, is well suited as starting- 

 point. It is tolerably numerous in species, even in northern regions, and, above all, 

 it contains many flightless, not easily dispersed forms which may, in their present 

 distribution, reflect faunal history with unusual clarity. 



The detailed facts concerning the coleopterous fauna included in table 7 and 

 diagram 7, give very clear evidence as to the zoogeographical character of Green- 

 land. It appears that the purely Palaearctic element is not only quantitatively 

 dominant (11 species), but that it furthermore contains the following flightless 

 species with consequently reduced powers of dispersal: 



Nebria gyllenhali f. typ. Otiorrhynchus arcticus (fig. 41) 



Lathrobiiim fidvipenne O. dubius 



Quedius boops Phytonomus elongattis. 



TABLE 7. Beetlca (Coleoptera) of the Faeroes, Iceland, Greenland, and Baffin Is- 

 land, regarded as indigenous, with a summing-up of their distribution in other parts 



of the Holarctic area. 



( +) = introduced. — a, b, and c = different subspecies; ab or be — both subspecies, 

 or intermediates. 



In the first column, m = macropterous (wings full), b = brachypterous (wings 

 reduced), (b) = wings full, or almost so, but probably non-functionary (incl. di- 

 morphic forms occurring in the brachypterous form only), d == dimorphic (both forms 

 represented, also within the area' considered). 



The limit between E and W North America is supposed to run through Hudson 

 Bay and Mississippi. Ditto between W and E Siberia is River Yenisei. 



All species stated or believed to be introduced into the four island areas considered 

 have been excluded. A division of this kind is in part a matter of personal judgment, 

 yet the rather rigorous discharge here practised at any rate has not over-dimensioned 

 the European element. Students interested in the species thus omitted are referred, 

 for the Faeroes to West (i939)\ for Iceland to Lindroth (1931)^, for Greenland to 

 Henriksen (1939)', for Baffin Island to Brown (1937). 



^ For the Faeroes, the only additional species is Otiorrhynchus rugosostriatiis Gze. (S. G. 

 Larsson, in lift.), probably introduced from the British Islands. 



^ Many imported beetles, but apparently only one native species, Gymnusa brevicollis 

 Payk., have been collected since 1931 (S. G. Larsson, in litt.). The North American P/zywa- 

 phora pulchella Newm. (Lindroth, 1931, p. 219) was no doubt reported by a pure mistake. 



^ For the recent discovery in Greenland of Caenoscelis ? cryptophaga Reitt. and Doryio- 

 mus sp. we are indebted to Mr. C. Vibe who kindly made the specimens available to me. 



I 7 ~ 565597 Lindroth 



