INTRODUCTION 

 General Introduction 



The family Erotylidae is composed of fungus-feeding 

 beetles that vary in body size and color; many are 

 elaborately patterned. Recently published catalogs detail 

 the Old World species (Delkeskamp 1981; Chujo & Chujo 1988, 

 1989, 1990). In contrast, Crotch's (1876) world revision 

 of the Erotylidae was the last study to cover the entire 

 New World fauna, but it provided no keys or illustrations 

 and few descriptions. Since Crotch's time, the New World 

 erotylid fauna has been studied intermittently, with 

 scattered regional studies, catalogs, and species 

 descriptions. Most New World erotylid genera have no 

 modern revision. 



The purpose of this study is to begin bringing the 

 nomenclature of the New World Erotylidae into the 20th 

 century and to publish the results in a manner that will 

 enable entomological students to identify their specimens. 

 "Progress in Natural History necessarily starts from a 

 basis of species, and until these are accurately described 

 so that others can arrive at a knowledge of them no great 

 advance is possible" (Horn 1887:7). 



Nomenclatural changes and lectotype designations made 



in this dissertation are not to be considered valid until 



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