PREFACE 



The aim of this catalogue is to enumerate systematically all the 

 species of Coleoptera described prior to January 1, 1919, which occur 

 in America, north of Mexico, Greenland included; with consecutive 

 numbers, sjoionyms, citation of original description, and an indication 

 of distribution. An effort has been made to arrange the species in 

 genera, tribes, families, superfamilies and series, in accordance with 

 the most recent works on classification; an explanation of the difficulty 

 of doing so in a satisfactory manner follows this preface. No attempt 

 has been made to determine the validity of the numerous specific names 

 proposed by recent authors. Numbered names indicate species 

 described and unquestioned in print. A letter, a, b, etc., following 

 the numeral indicates variety, subspecies, race, etc. Names proposed 

 by one author and disputed by another, are usually unnumbered, but 

 are sometimes treated as varieties. S3aionyms are always unnumbered, 

 but the reader must guard against regarding unnumbered names as 

 being invariably synonyms, for they often represent forms which, to 

 their authors, seeitted worthy of a name. 



The names of authors are usually abbreviated to the fii'st three 

 or four letters of their names ; the few cases which are differently treated 

 are explained below in the Hst of signs and abbreviations used. Authors' 

 names are usually in parenthesis if the species was originally described 

 in a different genus; the correct placing of the parenthesis involved 

 reference to many books and is not entirely complete. 



The citations are indicated by figures following the author's name; 

 the first two are the final figures of the year in which the description 

 was published; the remainder, separated by a hyphen, give the page 

 on which the description occurs. In conjunction with the chrono- 

 logical list of each author's papers at the end of the book, the citation 

 is thus given in the most condensed form possible. 



The distribution is indicated by the usual geographical abbreviations 

 (explained below) for the localities given in original descriptions and in 

 various faunal lists. Intermediate localities have usually been omitted 

 to save space, but particular care has been taken to include references 

 to the extremities of the area covered, e. g., Newfoundland, Alaska, 



