vi Preface 



Southern California, Florida, as well as to Indiana, the State covered 

 by Blatchley's descriptive catalogue. 



Specific names derived from names of persons have been uniformly 

 spelled with one i, unintentionally overlooking until too late that the 

 rules of nomenclature require the original spelling. Generic names 

 follow the original spelling. Tribal names end in ini, subfamily names 

 in inse, family names in idse, superfamily names in oidea — names of 

 subtribes and series follow original spelling. 



The catalogue has been compiled from Samuel Henshaw's remark- 

 ably accurate Check List and Supplements, aided by the latest com- 

 prehensive treatment of the various groups, literature citations in 

 Entomological News, Zoological Record, Coleopterorum Catalogus 

 (Junk) and previous catalogues, and Genera Insectorum; the result has 

 been checked by correspondence with speciaUsts. Of such, Col. Thomas 

 L. Casey, Messrs. Charles Dury, H. C. Fall, J. A. Hyslop, Charles 

 Schaeffer, J. M. Swaine, A. B. Wolcott, and the late E. D. Harris, were 

 especially helpful. The text for the water beetles was prepared by 

 Mr. John D. Sherman, Jr., and that for the family Melandryidse by Mr. 

 L. B. Woodruff, while Prof. H. F. Wickham took entire charge of the 

 Fossil Coleoptera. To all these coleopterists, and to Mr. Wilham H. 

 ^A^heeler, 2d, of the Cosmos Press, we are deeply indebted. Still more, 

 however, we owe to Mr. Andrew J. Mutchler of the American Museum 

 of Natural History, who has followed the entire work, aiding its com- 

 pletion in every possible way; and most of all do we owe to Messrs. 

 E. A. Schwarz and Herbert S. Barber, of the United States National 

 Museum. Mr. Schwarz with his life-long study of the Coleoptera, his 

 retentive memory, and his devotion to science, a devotion so great that 

 it makes no task unwelcome in its service, has taken such a capable 

 interest in the work that in succession, the manuscript, the galley proof, 

 and page proof, have passed through his erudite and kindly criticism. 

 His corrections are often specially acknowledged in footnotes, but no 

 acknowledgment can fully convey the feeling of admiration and affec- 

 tion his help has aroused. If the reader finds this book of any such 

 service as Henshaw's Check List has been for the last thirty-five years, 

 the aim of the publisher and author will have been attained, and largely 

 through^the help of Mr. Schwarz. 



Charles W. Leng, 

 John D. Sherman, Jr. 

 December 1, 1920. 



