4 BULLETIN 182, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



officials of all the islands, British, French, American, and independ- 

 ent, went out of their way to see that we had the facilities we needed, 

 and were especially accommodating in the difficult matters of permits 

 and other official business. 



The collections received for study from the Museum of Compara- 

 tive Zoology were composed largely of specimens taken by Dr. P. J. 

 Darlington during several trips to Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, 

 Puerto Rico, and Trinidad in search of Carabidae. The Cuban and 

 Trinidad series were supplemented by the collections of N. A. Weber 

 and others. This large collection contained an unusually high pro- 

 portion of interesting species, perhaps because collecting was con- 

 fined chiefly to high mountains. Among these I found 135 species 

 of which 91 were entirely new to me. In several cases these form 

 the only record of a genus from the West Indies. This collection 

 serves to emphasize the fact that the 468 species so far known from 

 the islands probably do not constitute half of the species actually 

 occurring there. It is likely that many of the additional species 

 will be discovered in ground cover and other decaying vegetable 

 debris, since we probably now know a relatively large percentage 

 of the species occurring in dung, decaying fruit, and rotten logs. 



ITINERARY 



Collecting was carried on in the islands continuously from June 

 1935 to March 1937. I was accompanied by Mrs. Blackwelder, who 

 frequently assisted in the collecting, and was occasionally joined by 

 local entomologists or naturalists, who were of great assistance in 

 finding suitable localities and in collecting specimens. During the 

 final 6 wrecks of the trip (in Jamaica) we were joined by Dr. Ed- 

 ward A. Chapin, curator of insects at the United States National 

 Museum. Together we were able to make large additions to the 

 collections, both of Staphylinidae and of other families as well. 



The islands visited were: Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (both Haiti 

 and the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Croix, 

 St. Kitts, Antigua, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Lucia, 

 Barbados, St. Vincent, Carriacou in the Grenadines, Grenada, To- 

 bago, and Trinidad. The only important island omitted was Mar- 

 tinique. In addition to these, specimens were available for the final 

 study from the following: Bahama Islands (Nassau, Egg, Eleuthera, 

 Harbor Islands, and Water Cay), Isle of Pines, Grand Cayman, 

 Mona Island, Vieques, Culebra, St. John, Tortola, Martinique, and 

 Mustique in the Grenadines. Additional records are listed from 

 St. Bartholomew, Les Saintes, and Curacao. 



Jamaica.— June 27, 1935, to July 31, 1935 (also January 21, 1937, 

 to March 6, 1937). Stations 1 to 20. We made our headquarters in 



