4 BULLETIN 185, U:MTE.D STATES NATIOKAL MUSEUM 



Chiysomelidac, and Bruchidae; (5) the Ciirciilionidae and related families 

 (Rhynchophora) ; and (6) the bibliography and index. 



The principal purpose of a checldist is to give a list of the names that 

 have been proposed. In practice this basic purpose is sometimes over- 

 shadowed by secondary auns such as indicating synonymy, distribution, 

 and citations to literature. All these things are desirable and extremely 

 useful, and the compiler of a checklist is justified in including as many of 

 them as circumstances permit. Nevertheless, a checklist can not take the 

 place of other reference works and should not be expected to furnish more 

 information than intended by its compiler. 



In the present list it has been the aim to include all names proposed for 

 species found in Latin America as species, subspecies, varieties, phases, 

 aberrations, synonyms, or homonyms according to the latest acceptable 

 studies, to list these in alphabetical order under the proper genus, to ar- 

 range the genera of each family in supposed systematic order m accordance 

 with the most recent or most promising studies, and to arrange the families 

 in systematic order as outlined above. It is further proposed to give an 

 abbreviated citation to the original author and time and place of publica- 

 tion of each name, so that the full reference can be obtained from the 

 bibliography, and a list of the countries in Latin America from which each 

 species has been reported. 



The region covered by this list includes all of Mexico, Central America, 

 the West Indies (or Antilles) , and South America, with neighboring islands, 

 including the Galdpagos, Juan Fernandez, and Falkland Islands but not 

 Easter, South Georgia, Tristan d'Acunha, or Bermuda. 



Each country from which any given species has been recorded is listed 

 separately. It has seemed desirable to list separately all insular records 

 since many of these islands are so far removed from the mainland as to 

 have distinct faunas. The use of footnote references permits rapid orienta- 

 tion of unfamiliar island names with the nearest part of the mainland — 

 not always the politically associated part. 



Exceptions to the above have been made in several instances. The 

 Mexican state of Baja California has long been treated separately and 

 seems to require listing distinct from the remainder of Mexico. The 

 Chaco region of Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina has been used as a local- 

 ity in many instances. As it is impracticable without expenditure of 

 more time than is now available to determine in which of the countries 

 concerned the Chaco localities now occur, they are accordingly listed 

 simply as "Chaco." The region known as Patagonia is largely in Argentina 

 but has included parts of Chile as well. Since it is not possible to determine 

 which country is involved in many of the cases the record is included as 

 "Patagonia." As a rule these do not include Tierra del Fuego, which is 

 listed separately and which includes part of both Argentina and Chile. 

 Numerous species were recorded in the nineteenth century from New 

 Granada. This region included at one time all of Colombia and parts of 



