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region forming the extreme southeastern point of North America; where- 

 as a great deal of interest has been shown for many years in the study 

 of the insects of all Orders inhabiting the south-western extremity. Of 

 course, it has long been known that there exsisted in southern Florida 

 a colony of West Indian forms but no one knew how large or small 

 this colony was, nor how far north it extended. Most entomologists 

 considered this colony as a very small one, or as having only a temporary 

 character, the insects having flown or having been in some other way 

 brought over from Cuba to disappear again from the Florida coast with- 

 in one season or two. In fact some of the species reported in former 

 times from southern Florida are now again dropped from our lists as 

 doubtfully belonging to our fauna. Aside from this West Indian colony 

 quite a number of species have been described from southern Florida 

 as being peculiar to that section, thus creating the impression of the 

 presence of a distinct endemic fauna in southern Florida. A few of 

 these insects came from Key West but most of them are simply recorded 

 from "Southern Florida," a rather indefinite and somewhat mysterious 

 locality, since it must be remembered that by far the largest part of 

 southern Florida consists of unproductive Cypress or Mangrove swamps, 

 or impenetrable sawgrass savannahs, or overllowed land like the immense 

 stretch of the Everglades. 



Thus when last year I had the opportunity of spending a few weeks 

 on an exploring trip to southern Florida, a preparatory study of what 

 was known of the insects of that region furnished hardl}' any information, 

 and, in fact, I started on my trip quite ignorant regarding the general 

 character and extent of that fauna. To make sure of striking the semi- 

 tropical part of Florida I proceeded at once to Key West and here I 

 found indeed a fauna entirely different from any I had found on various 

 previous trips to Florida.* Of course, the island of Key West contains 

 also a great many species well known to me but all these are species of 

 general distribution, either in our Southern States or distributed through 

 both North and South America. After a study of this peculiar fauna 

 of Key West which I also found on many other localities farther north 

 and which constitutes the semitropical fauna of Florida, I have come to 

 the conclusion that it is entirely of West Indian origin, and that the 

 region I shall hereafter circumscribe as Semitropical Florida does not 



* The following remarks pertain only to tlie Coleopterous fauna, to the study of 

 which most of my time and attention was paid; but from what I collected or saw in 

 the other orders I feel confident that the character and extent of the semitropical in- 

 sect fauna as a whole does not differ in the least from that of the Coleoptera. The 

 strong flyers among the insects, viz : certain Lepidoptera and Odonata, differ of course 

 in the mode of immigration but their number is comparatively small. 



