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IV. Co7ifributions to an Insect Fauna of the Amazon 

 Valleij. Coleoptera — Staphylinida'. Bj D. Sharp, 

 M.B. 



[Read 2nd February, 187C.] 



There is probably no part of the world outside of the 

 temperate zones of whose insect fauna we know so much 

 as Ave do of that of the valley of the Amazon. During a 

 long residence in this interesting region ]\Ir. Bates formed 

 rich collections of its Insecta, and since his return to 

 Europe has published numerous important memoirs de- 

 scriptive of these stores. 



Mr. Bates naturally selected for study those groups 

 which are best known, aiid about which therefore most 

 interest is felt by entomologists ; and some few years ago 

 he made over to me the whole of the specimens in his 

 possession of Amazonian Staphylinida:, with the hope 

 that I should be able to examine and describe them. 

 While I was engaged in this task, Dr. J. W. H. Trail, of 

 Aberdeen, made a journey to the Amazon valley in the 

 interesis of natural history, and on his return handed 

 over to me, in the most disinterested manner, the Stajjhy- 

 linidce (and some other Coleoptej-a) collected by him, and, 

 as the result, I found myself in possession of an important 

 supplement to Mr. Bates' collection. I have also received 

 through JNIr. Janson a few species of the family collected 

 at Para by Mr. H. H. Smith three or four years ago, and 

 one or two interesting species from the upper portion of 

 the valley, collected by Mr. Hauxwell, have reached me. 



I am thus enabled to enumerate a considerable number 

 of species of the family as inhabiting the valley of the 

 Amazon ; a lai'ge proportion of these species are small, 

 obscure and imattractive to the general collector, but 

 perhaps on this account their importance just now to the 

 genuine student of nature is all the greater ; for there 

 is prevalent a generally entertained, but I believe quite 

 erroneous, opinion as to the existence of minute and 

 obscure species of insects in the tropics. It appears to be 

 generally supposed that small and unattractive species of 

 insects which we all know to be so numerous in temperate 



TRANS. ENT. SOC. 1876. — PART I. (mAY.) 



