C 127 ) 



X. 071 some Nitidulidre^/'om the Hawaiian Islaiids. 

 By D. Shaep. 



[Read April 3rd, 1878.] 



The beetles enumerated and described in this paper were 

 collected by the Rev. T. Blackburn in the Sandwich 

 Islands, and are as complete a series of the species of the 

 family as he could send me at the time. There are about 

 twenty species, and they all belong to the tribe Car- 

 pophilidce, to which tribe the portion published of Mr. 

 Murray's Monograph of the family is chiefly devoted. 

 This author, whose decease we have so recently lamented, 

 has enumerated 234 species as composing the tribe. It 

 would seem, therefore, that these Hawaiian Carpoj)hiliclcB 

 are sufficiently numerous to throw some light on tho 

 relationships of the fauna of this isolated group of islands, 

 and I have no doubt that ultimately they will be of great 

 use in this respect. At present, the state of the classifi- 

 cation of the family, and the incomplete knowledge we 

 have of its exotic members, should prevent any large 

 generalizations being stated except in a very dubious 

 manner. Putting aside certain species which are nearly 

 cosmopolitan, and others, which fi-om their habits are 

 more easily distributed than is usually the case with 

 beetles, there yet remains a considerable number of species 

 which may be considered as undoubtedly indigenous to 

 the islands; and although I am not able to express at 

 present any decisive opinion on this point, I think it 

 probable that these insects will find their nearest allies 

 in the Indo-Malayan and Austro-Malayan subregions as 

 defined by Mr. Wallace. 



We require information, which is not at present forth- 

 coming, as to the distribution of the insects among the 

 difierent islands of the group, and it will be of much value 

 if Mr. Blackbm-n can procure us this knowledge. 



We know, also, very little indeed of the Nitidulidce of 

 the other groups of islands of the Polynesian subregion ; 

 almost all that has been published on this point is con- 

 tained in Fairmaire's paper on the Coleoptera of Polynesia, 

 published in the Revue et Magazin de Zoologie, June, 



TRANS. ENT. SOC. 1878. — PART II. (jULY.) 



