38 BULLETIN 182, UNITED STATES NiATIONAL MUSEUM 



in this sliidy of the West Indies is principally the number of species 

 occurring in the islands and also in Trinidad. This number is 50, 

 and only half of these are yet known from South America. 



Six genera occur in Trinidad and South America but not in the 

 true West Indies. These are Leptochiriis^ Ophites^ SuniocliOi'is^ Ro- 

 tictus^ Philothalpus^ and Plochionocerus. They support the conten- 

 tion that Trinidad is faunally South American. 



These statements are all based on the data now available and will 

 undoubtedly be revised as our knowledge of the West Indian Staphy- 

 linidae increases. The conclusions are in general accord with those 

 derived from studies of other groups of animals and of plants, except 

 as to the inclusions of Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies. 



Although it is not practicable to include here lists of the species 

 recorded from each island, it is of interest to note the total number 

 of species that have been taken on each one. The totals include the 

 species collected by me, those unpublished records I have found in 

 various collections, and all the previously published records: Ber- 

 muda, 2 ; Bahamas Islands, 1 ; Cuba, 172 ; Isle of Pines, 4 ; Cayman 

 Islands, 3; Jamaica, 128; Hispaniola, 119; Mona, 1; Puerto Rico, 

 103; Vieques, 3 ; Culebra, 1; St. Thomas, 19; St. John, 11; Tortola, 1; 

 St. Croix, 37; St. Bartholomew, 1; St. Kitts, 11; Antigua, 32; Mont- 

 serrat, 32; Guadeloupe, 6'4; Les Saintes, 1; Dominica, 32; Martinique, 

 6; St. Lucia, 50; Barbados, 17; St. Vincent, 76; Mustique, 9; Carria- 

 cou, 7; Grenada, 84; Tobago, 11; Trinidad, 122; and Cura(^ao, 1. 

 Together these records include 468 species. Of these 59 are known 

 to occur also in South America, 51 in Central America, and 28 in 

 North America. 



SOURCES OF RECORDS 



Several sources of records have been mentioned in previous para- 

 graphs. The largest one, of course, has been the identifications 

 made by me of the specimens available in several collections. Many 

 of these identifications amount to rediscovery of species unreported 

 since their original proposal 50 to 100 years ago. 



A considerable number of species have been found already identi- 

 fied in the collections of the United States National Museum, the 

 British Museum, Dr. M. Cameron, and myself. These determina- 

 tions have been checked in all cases and, if verified, have been in- 

 cluded. A number of these records are believed to be errors in 

 identification or to represent synonyms. These appear in the syn- 

 onymy or are discussed in the sections headed "Remarks." 



The entire literature on the Staphylinidae, so far as time and 

 facilities would permit, has been searched for references to the West 

 Indies. Records that appear to be based on correct identifications 

 and locality records have been included ; others are discussed in the 



