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PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Origin 



The meloid fauna of the West Indies is known to inckide 9 species m 

 5 genera,: Meloe, Tetraonyx, Cissites, Pseudozonitis, and Nemognatha. 

 The species are listed in table 1, which also summarizes available 

 distributional data. Although additional collecting may augment 

 the present list of species, it is apparent that the meloid fauna of the 

 islands is depauperate. In comparison, the Mexican State of Vera- 

 cruz has nearly 50 species representing 8 genera, and Florida has 28 

 species in 7 genera. The scarcity of Meloidae in the West Indies is 

 paralleled in a number of other animal groups, such as the amphibians 

 and terrestrial mammals among the vertebrates (Darlington, 1957) 

 and perhaps in a majority of the families of beetles among the insects. 



The much richer representation of Meloidae in Florida than in 

 the West Indies indicates that the scarcity of Meloidae in the islands 

 is largely a reflection of physical isolation of the islands from the 

 mainland rather than of their ecological uniformity or unsuitability. 

 Veracruz has such great physiographic and climatic diversity that it 

 might be expected to have more species of Meloidae than the West 

 Indies, even if the West Indies were not isolated. But Florida, 

 which is ecologically much more uniform than the West Indies, has 

 more than three times as many species as the islands. 



All known genera of Meloidae in the West Indies are represented 

 also on the American mainland and in most cases abundantly. 

 According to the classification that we have adopted, these genera 

 represent two subfamilies and four tribes. 



As shown in table 1 , four of the nine species of West Indian Meloidae 

 occur also on the mainland. So far, only two West Indian species 

 (Tetraonyx quadrimaculata and Cissites maculata) have been recorded 



