SCOTT— COLEOPTERA, LAMELLICORNIA AND ADEPHAGA 241 



No representative of either Cicindelidae or Carabidse has yet been found in the 

 Chagos Islands. 



Only 4 species of Dytiscidse have been found in the Seychelles, while 10 species 

 occur in Aldabra. Not one of the 10 Aldabra species has been found in any of the other 

 islands. Only one of the Seychelles species has been found in any of the other islands, 

 namely the very wide-spread Hydaticus leander, which occurs also in Coetivy. A single 

 species [Bidessus farquharensis sp. nov.) has been found in the Farquhar Group, and a 

 single one {Bidessus thermcdis) in the Chagos, the latter being the only form of Adephaga 

 known to occur in that group of islands. 



External Distribution. 



It is again convenient to consider the general distribution and affinities under two 

 principal heads, namely (A) the fauna of the Seychelles, and (B) the fauna of Aldabra. 

 To these must also be added a third head (C) including two species not known to occur 

 in either of those groups, but known from the Chagos and Farquhar Groups respectively. 



A. Seychelles. Cicindela melancholica is a widely distributed species, occurring 

 under various different forms (subspecies, varieties, etc.) in Southern Europe, Africa, and 

 Madagascar. The form found in the Seychelles is closely related to subsp. trilimcms 

 Klug, which occurs in Madagascar, East Africa, and Aldabi'a, and I hear from Dr W. 

 Horn that var. seychellensis is also related to var. perplexa Dejean, which was first 

 described from Reunion. 



With the possible exception of Tacky s scycheUaritm and Anillus sp., it may be said 

 that no truly endemic Carabidse are knowia from the Seychelles. During the greater part 

 of 8 months I collected constantly, and by many and various methods, in the endemic 

 mountain-forests, and Carabidse seemed to be conspicuous only by their entire absence. 

 Those species which are found in the islands occur in the cultivated country, often near 

 the coast, and several of them are found in certain of the coral-islands in the same region. 

 3 of the species {Tetragonoderus bduuatus, Chlcenms bisignatus, and Tachys hihxdus) are 

 Madagascar-Mascarene species ; one of them, Chheaius bisignatus, is stated by Professor 

 Kolbe (Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, v. 1910, p. 17) to be closely related to certain African 

 ChlcBnii. HypoUthus seychellarum too, which occurs not only in the Seychelles but also 

 in the Amirantes and Farquhar Gi'oups, is closely related to certain African and 

 Madagascan species. Stenolophus fulvipes has not been recorded from Madagascar, but 

 occurs in the Comoros and in parts of Africa as distant from one another as Mozambique 

 and Angola. Kolbe {op. cit. p. 18) writes that Pentagonica mahena is one of a number 

 of very similar species, and that the genus Pentagonica occurs in Madagascar, Africa, 

 South and East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Tropical America, etc. Nothing can be 

 said as to the affinities of the undetermined Ophionea, or of the minute Tachys seychel- 

 larum, which latter is possibly indigenous and peculiar to the Seychelles. The presence 

 of the extremely minute, blind and wingless Anillus is most interesting, and it is to be 

 hoped that further material of it may be obtained, so that its species can be determined. 

 Species of Anillus have been discovered ui variously widely-separated parts of the world, 



31—2 



