FAUNA OF ST. CROIX ISLAND 100 



a sjiialler kind with ocellated sjiots over the upper sur 

 faces of body and tins. At the time, 1 rej^arded these 

 two a.s essentially the same, the spotted kind api>earing 

 to he the yomig of the Lui-haai : the same view was held 

 by i>r. (Jik-hrist, when he published his first list of S. 

 African fishes. However, according to Mr. C. T. Kegar 

 of The Britisli Museum, they are quite distinct species, 

 and Messrs. (lilchrist and Thompson have recently 

 acquiesced to this view. No less than four species of 

 this genus were recorded by Mr. Regan from the ^leigh 

 bourhood of Bird Island, but the relationships of these 

 four to each other should perhaps be regarded a^; suh 

 jud'tcc: the markings on the spotted kind are very vari- 

 able, and the young of the striped Lui-haai may prove 

 to be spotted. 



The invertebrate life of St. Croix consists partly of 

 insects associated with or parasitic on Penguins. The 

 eoTiimonest beetle is a small black Tenebrionid of the 

 genus GonocepJiaJuyn. There are also numerous tok 

 toki.'s. those real Afrikander beetles of the genus 

 Pstiftniiodes (cp. P. vcrmiculaium) . Various Staphy- 

 linids and a small Histerid of the genus Sai)}''nii(S were 

 found on the nesting sites. Butterflies are represented 

 by Co] ins dccira. and several small species of Lycaena. 

 Two kinds of ants occur, one of them extraordinarily 

 abundant: tlie latter is identified by Dr. Arnold as 

 Phf idolr imncinJdta, and the other ^oJenopsis pinwtato 

 ceps, Several specimens oi a small cricket (Gri/llus) 

 were taken. 



I s]K-nt some time collecting parasites from the nests 

 of the cave dwellers. By scraping away several heaps 

 of i>ebbles f«u- examination in a better light, quite a host 

 of ticks was found. Tliey resemble fowl ticks in habit, 

 the adults liiding in the darkest situations they can find, 

 and feeding on the ho.st only for short periods. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Lounsbury, it is a favourite joke amongst the 



