SCOTT— COLEOPTERA, LAMELLICORNIA AND ADEPHAGA 243 



Condition of the wings in the Carabidse. 



It has been possible to investigate this to some extent in 8 out of the 13 species. 

 One of th.e forms examined is the flightless Anillus : another is Dioryche interpunctata, in 

 which a remarkable and apparently discontinuous variation has come to light, some of the 

 specimens having the wings reduced (see p. 249) : with these exceptions no trace of 

 reduction or atrophy of wings has been discovered, and as far as can be seen the general 

 condition of these organs is one of full development. 



The condition of the wings in this family is particularly interesting, as in some 

 insular faunas the Carabidse are remarkable for having a large number of flightless species. 

 This is especially the case in the Hawaiian Islands, for an account of the Carabid-fauna of 

 which I must refer to Dr Sharp's very interesting introductory remarks on that family in 

 Fauna Hawaiiensis, vol. iii., part iii. pp. 175 — 189. In almost every point, however, the 

 Carabid-fauna of the Seychelles stands in most marked contrast to that of the Hawaiian 

 Islands. In the latter, the endemic forests are tenanted by a large number (over 200 

 species) of Carabidse, all of which, with the exception of one species, are confined to the 

 Archipelago ; this large number of species belongs to very few groups, presenting, to use 

 Dr Sharp's phrase {op. cit. p. 177), the phenomenon of great " taxonomic concentration"; 

 in their affinities they are almost all very isolated ; while 90 per cent, of them are flightless 

 {op. cit. p. 178), having the wings more or less reduced. In the Seychelles, on the other 

 hand, the endemic forests are to all appearance devoid of Carabidse, such species as do 

 occur in the islands being found in the cultivated lower country : the Carabid-fauna is 

 small and fragmentary, consisting of a number of genera belonging to different groups and 

 represented each by either a single or at most by very few species : the species themselves 

 are not isolated in their affinities, but are either more or less widely-spread outside the 

 islands, or closely-allied to species found elsewhei-e : while, with the two exceptions 

 mentioned above, they appear to have their wings fully -developed. 



Some of the points of difference between the Seychelles and Hawaiian faunas 

 mentioned above are probably not confined to the Carabidse, but will be found to apply 

 also to many other sections of the entomological fauna. But it should be added that in 

 one respect the Seychelles Carabid-fauna is not characteristic of the Coleopterous fauna of 

 those islands as a whole, and that is in its apparent lack of an endemic element. It can 

 be said fairly safely that many parts of the Seychelles Coleopterous fjxinia do possess such 

 an element, and in this respect the Seychelles Carabidaj are not a fair sample of the whole 

 Coleopterous fauna to use for purposes of comparison with other insular faunas. 



Cicindelidae. 



CiciNDELA Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ii. 1735, p. 657. 



26. Cicindela melancholica, Fabricius. 



Cicindela melancholica Fabricius, Suppl. Ent. Syst., 1798, p. 63; Alluaud, Liste 

 Coleopt., p. 9. 



I am indebted to Dr Walther Horn for assisting me in dealing with the varieties of 

 this species and their nomenclature, and for sending me specimens of several forms for 



