Colcoptera of the Madeira Islands. 005 



too late. Tliis applies especially to the orders oilier than 

 Coleoptera, comparatively neglected by Wollastoii. Lists 

 which have been published, such as Noualhier's list of 

 Ileniiptera, Becker's Diptera, etc., represent mainly the 

 species collected in or around Fuuchal, in cultivated areas, 

 and do not do justice to the subject. 



A good illustration of the introduction into Madeira of 

 insects from remote regions was given by M. Cameron (Ent. 

 Mo. Mag., Sept. 1901). Collecting for a few days about 

 Fuuchal, he was surprised to come across O.vi/tcdics advena, 

 Sharp, a Staphylinid of striking appearance, described in 

 1880 from Oahu, Hawaiian Is.*. 



An example of an insect which is widespread in 

 Madeira and yet evidently not native is Sitona laiipennis, 

 Schonherr, -wliich I took on broom {Cytisus scoparius) at 

 Funchal, Feb. 25. Wollaston had already' recorded that it 

 fed on this plant, which Lowe says was doubtless intro- 

 duced. But for the food-plant it would have been impossible 

 to decide whether S. latipennis was native or not. 



Wollaston remarks on the rarity of ant-nest beetles in 

 ^ladeira. Geostiba formicarum (Woll.) is endemic, but, not- 

 withstanding its name, appears not to be a Myrmecophile. 



Thor ictus ivestivoodi, Woll., found in Madeira and Porto 

 Santo, is really attached to ants, but according to Fauvel it is 

 not endemic. Cossyphodes wollastonii, Westwood, occurs in 

 nests of the introduced Pheidole megacephala (Fab.J, but it 

 is not endemic. 



This condition of affairs can readily be understood in view 

 of the fact that so far as known the islands possess no native 

 ant-fanua whatever. The eleven species known from ^Madeira 

 (recorded by E. Saunders and Forel) have all been intro- 

 duced; a twelfth is the Argentine ^nt^ Iridumyrmex humilis, 

 Mayr, which in more recent years has overrun both Madeira 

 and Porto Santo. Ford recorded Monomoriwn salomonis (L.) 

 from Porto Santo and the Salvages. I hunted assiduonsly 

 for endemic ants in Porto Santo, but without success. In 

 an isolated spot near the Pico do Faclio I found a small nest 



* 1 take this opportunity to record that I found Pcriplaneta americana 

 (L.) in Funchal (1921). It is not hsted in Burr's ' Catalogue of Madeira 

 Orthoptera,' which includes only three Blattidse. Also, as nothing has 

 been recorded concernino- the Orthoptera of Porto Santo, I miy note that 

 I collected three specie?, kindly determined for me by Mr. Oaudell. 

 These are LiorjryUus bundculatus (I)eGeer). which also occuis on Grand 

 Salvap-e Island and in Madeira; Aiolopus tlialassinus (Fabr.), also 

 observed to be common at Funchal, Madeira ; and Sphinz/inotus rubescc-ns 

 (Walker), which I took on the Pico d'Anna Ferreira. 



