202 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. in 



Museum (USNM) ; F. G. Werner, University of Arizona; and Fernando 

 de Zayas, Havana, Cuba. (Abbreviations in parentheses are those 

 used in designating institutional collections in the records section of 

 species accounts given below; the abbreviation RBS in the records 

 section designates the collection of the senior author.) 



For assistance in the statistical treatment of data, we are indebted 

 to H. W. Norton, University of Illinois, and P. W, Smith, Illinois 

 Natural History Survey. 



Finally, we take pleasure in expressing our appreciation to M. W. 

 Sanderson, Illinois Natural History Survey, for encouraging our 

 interest in the West Indies and for his invaluable aid in all phases 

 of this study. 



Taxonomic Treatment 



In the following accounts the synonymy listed for each species 

 consists of a citation of the original description and of all subsequently 

 published works that refer to the species as a part of the West Indian 

 fauna. Diagnoses are given in place of full descriptions for certain 

 species that have been adequately described elsewhere or that have 

 an extensive range outside the area covered by the present study. 

 In all other respects, we have attempted to make the accounts as 

 complete as possible. 



We have excluded from our treatment the species Epicauta pennsyl- 

 vanica (DeGeer), a rather small, entirely black meloid ranging com- 

 monly through the greater part of the eastern two-thirds of the 

 United States and recorded from Jamaica by Gowdey (1926, p. 13). 

 Gowdey's record was based on two specimens collected by him in 

 Hope Gardens, St. Andrew Parish, and now housed in the Gowdey 

 collection at the Hope Garden Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 Through the efforts of T. H. Farr, we were able to study one of these 

 specimens, a typical male collected August 8, 1920. According to 

 Farr (in htt.), the other specimen is dated October 10, 1920. In 

 view of the information available, we concluded that Gowdey's 

 specimens were accidentally introduced from the mainland (possibly 

 as larvae in soil packed around roots of plants); the absence of sub- 

 sequent Jamaican records indicates that the species did not succeed 

 in establishing itself on the island. 



Key to the Species of West Indian Meloidae 



1. Wingless, entirely black beetles with shortened elytra . INIeloe laevis Leach 

 Wings and elytra fully developed; color not entirely black 2 



2. Dorsal blade of tarsal claws smooth, without teeth; elytra orange, each with 



a large black basal spot and an even larger apical spot (sometimes partially 



fused), the spots covering at least two-thirds of surface 3 



Dorsal blade of tarsal claws with a double row of small teeth ventrally; color 

 pattern of elytra not as above 5 



