2 NATURAL HISTORY BULLETIN 



about 234, and later^' a supplement to his Iowa City list, making 

 a total of some 1121 names from this vicinity. ^Meanwhile num- 

 erous other insects have been detected and the time seems oppor- 

 tune for the presentation of a revised catalogue which shall show 

 the state of our knowledge today. Nevertheless much remains 

 to be done before our acquaintance with the fauna of Iowa can 

 be considered in any sense complete, the southeastern part alone 

 having furnished any really considerable number of records. 

 Particular attention should be given the counties along our 

 northern border, especially those lying in the driftless area in 

 the northeast corner. The diversified surface of this last named 

 region furnishes conditions not met with elsewhere within our 

 limits, while the beetles thereof are almost unknown. All collec- 

 tors of Iowa beetles are invited to comnumicate with the writer 

 concerning new records and doubtful identifications in order 

 that, the systematic papers which are to follow this list may be 

 made as complete as possible. 



For the benefit of students of distriliution who may wish to 

 compare the characters of our fauna with those of other regions, 

 a few words may be said regarding the physical features of the 

 state. Iowa is essentially a prairie, it offers comparatively little 

 variation in altitude, the lowest portion, near Keokuk, lying 

 about 477 feet above sea level while the highest point, Ocheyedan 

 Mound, reaches 1650 feet. With the exception of a narrow strip 

 along the eastern edge of the upper half, the entire state has 

 been extensively glaciated and is buried under the drift sheets 

 left by the retreating ice. Western and southern Iowa lie under 

 the Kansan drift, while most of the northea.stern quarter is 

 covered by the lowan. To the westward of this last named sheet, 

 a great tongue of the Wisconsin drift, the main lake region in 

 Avhich the surface topography shows scarcely any trace of water 

 carving, reaches south as far as Des Moines. Its further edge 

 curves north and west until it reaches our northern boundary m 

 Lyon' County. All of the foregoing sheets came from the Kewatin 

 center, but on our eastern border, from just above Davenport to 

 a point below Burlington is to be seen an invasion of the Illinoian 



5 Bulletin Lab. Nat. Hist. State Univ. of Iowa, A'ol. Ill, No. 3, 1895. 

 36-40. 



