ANTARCTIC ZOOGEOGRAPHY 365 



state. According to Enderlein, the only species of insects with a wide 

 distribution in the Antarctic are parasites of seals. 



The insect population of the sub-Antarctic islands is naturally 

 somewhat richer. At South Georgia, for example, we find 5 species 

 of beetles, 4 of Diptera, and 5 of CoUembola, not counting parasitic 

 forms. Enderlein^^ remarked that the insect fauna of South Georgia 

 is so well known that new forms can hardly be looked for, but the 

 fact that several have since been added is indicative of the possibilities 

 of future collecting. The richest part of the sub-Antarctic zone, so 

 far as insects are concerned, is what Enderlein calls the "Heard- 

 Marion region," comprising the groups of islands lying between 

 these two as extremes. We might expect such relative profusion to 

 be associated with the more diversified vegetation of the Indian 

 Ocean islands. Kerguelen has 54 species of insects, including about 

 7 which have been introduced. The native fauna, however, represents 

 no less than 9 orders, including Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera 

 (an ant, Camponotus) , and Diptera, in addition to CoUembola, Thy- 

 sanura, etc. The presence of ants on Kerguelen, as well as the Crozet 

 group, is especially interesting because these insects occur at none 

 of the other sub-Antarctic islands nor at the Falklands. Among 

 beetles, the following families are found at one or another of the 

 sub-Antarctic islands: Tenebrionidae (meal worm beetles), Cur- 

 culionidae (weevils), Staphylinidae (rove beetles), Dytiscidae (car- 

 nivorous water beetles), Carabidae (carnivorous ground beetles). 

 Macquarie has a Crambine moth, and a locustid reaches the Antipodes 

 Islands. 



LAND BIRDS 



The land birds of the sub-Antarctic isles are notable for their 

 small number when contrasted with the varied bird population of 

 even much higher latitudes in the north, but they present few geo- 

 graphic problems. The southern outliers of New Zealand have 

 endemic snipe, rails, or parrot-like forms, all of obvious affinities. 

 The native pipit of South Georgia is related to species in South 

 America, directly to windward, as is also the native teal. The pintail 

 duck of Kerguelen and the Crozets is of holarctic relationship, and 

 its presence is more puzzling. The sheathbill {Vaginalis) is an aber- 

 rant and very peculiar Limicoline, which has penetrated from southern 

 South America to the polar continent by way of the islands and the 

 Palmer Land peninsula. A related genus occupies the islands of the 

 Indian Ocean, but the group has gone no farther along a circumpolar 

 track. It would be exceedingly interesting to learn which form of 

 sheathbill, if any, inhabits Bouvet Island. 



2^ Giinther Enderlein: Die Inseliten des Antarktischen Gebietes (Deutsche Siidpolar Expedition 

 1901-1903, herausg. von Erich von Drygalski, Vol. 10: Zoology, Part II, pp. 361-528), Berlin, 1909. 



