Ul 



PSYCHE 



VOL. XXII JUNE, 1915 No. 3 



THE ORIGIN OF ANTHOPHILY AMONG THE 

 COLEOPTERA. 



By John H. Lovell, 

 Waldoboro, Maine. 



As pollinators of flowers the Coleoptera are less important than 

 either the Hymenoptera, Diptera, or Lepidoptera. Of the total 

 number of described species the majority are largely inhibited from 

 visiting flowers by their forms or habits ; many are predaceous both 

 in the larval and adult stages, or are scavengers; others are noctur- 

 nal, or aquatic, or occur chiefly on the ground lurking beneath 

 stones and boards, or living in the nests of other orders of insects; 

 while round or elliptical forms with short legs and very large 

 species are ill-adapted to anthophily, Knuth has enumerated 434 

 beetles in Europe and the Arctic regions as anthophilous;^ and in 

 the world outside of Europe 223 species, of which 185 belong to 

 North America.^ Since the appearance of Knuth's work a few par- 

 tial lists of the species collected in various localities in the United 

 States have been published. In Wisconsin Dr, Graenicher has 

 recorded 35 beetles as visitors to the Compositee;^ in Virginia Dr. 

 Banks has listed 58 species taken on the flowers of Ceanothus,^ 

 and in California Hopping collected 56 species on the same in- 

 florescence;^ while many additional flower-records are given in 

 Blatchley's "Coleoptera in Indiana." 



The order of the Coleoptera is of special interest, says Hermann 

 Muller, since it shows so clearly the beginnings of anthophily, and 



1 Knuth, Paul, "Handbuch der Blutenbiologie," Vol. 2, p. 560. 



^Loc. cit, Vol. 3, p. 366. 



' Graenicher, S., "Wisconsin Flowers and Their Pollination," Bull. Wisconsin Soc. Nat. Hist., 

 Vol. 7, pp. 19-77. 



< Banks, N., "At the Ceanothus in Virginia," Ent. News, Vol. 23, pp. 102-110. 



5 Hopping, Ralph, "Some Notes of Coleoptera Found on Species of Ceanothus," Ent. NewSj 

 Vol. 10, pp. 162-165. 



