﻿Wickham 
  — 
  Fossil 
  Beetles 
  from 
  Florida. 
  355 
  

  

  Aet. 
  XXII. 
  — 
  Fossil 
  Beetles 
  from 
  Vero, 
  Florida; 
  by 
  

   H. 
  F. 
  Wickham. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  interesting 
  locality 
  at 
  Vero, 
  Florida, 
  now 
  noted 
  

   for 
  the 
  finds 
  of 
  human 
  remains 
  in 
  association 
  with 
  those 
  

   of 
  Pleistocene 
  mammals, 
  several 
  rather 
  good 
  specimens 
  

   of 
  insect 
  fragments 
  were 
  found. 
  All 
  of 
  the 
  Coleopterous 
  

   relics, 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  elytra, 
  have 
  been 
  turned 
  over 
  to 
  me 
  

   by 
  Dr. 
  Sellards, 
  for 
  study, 
  and 
  form 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  the 
  fol- 
  

   lowing 
  notes. 
  

  

  A 
  specific 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  locality, 
  its 
  geological 
  history, 
  

   stratification 
  and 
  fossils, 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  an 
  article 
  by 
  

   Dr. 
  Sellards 
  in 
  the 
  Eighth 
  Annual 
  Report 
  of 
  the 
  Florida 
  

   State 
  Geological 
  Survey, 
  1916, 
  pp. 
  121-160. 
  For 
  the 
  pur- 
  

   pose 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  notes, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  sufficient 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  

   the 
  insects 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  both 
  of 
  the 
  strata 
  yielding 
  

   human 
  bones 
  and 
  implements, 
  and 
  in 
  association 
  with 
  

   remains 
  of 
  the 
  Columbian 
  elephant, 
  the 
  American 
  mas- 
  

   todon 
  and 
  other 
  extinct 
  mammals. 
  The 
  Coleoptera 
  seem 
  

   worth 
  recording, 
  partly 
  because 
  they 
  throw 
  some 
  light 
  

   on 
  the 
  probable 
  climatic 
  and 
  ecological 
  conditions 
  at 
  the 
  

   time 
  of 
  their 
  deposit, 
  and 
  partly 
  because 
  we 
  may 
  gather 
  

   from 
  them 
  some 
  ideas 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  relative 
  rapidity 
  of 
  spe- 
  

   cific 
  or 
  subspecific 
  change. 
  

  

  Two 
  conclusions 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  warranted 
  after 
  a 
  study 
  of 
  

   the 
  beetle 
  fragments. 
  The 
  first 
  is 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  nothing 
  

   to 
  indicate 
  any 
  particular 
  difference 
  in 
  climatic 
  conditions 
  

   in 
  Florida 
  then 
  and 
  now, 
  since 
  the 
  assemblage 
  of 
  genera 
  

   is 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  one 
  might 
  expect 
  to 
  find 
  in 
  a 
  stream 
  valley 
  

   there 
  today. 
  The 
  nearest 
  relatives 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  are 
  still 
  

   characteristic 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  Floridian 
  fauna 
  and 
  many 
  

   of 
  them 
  are 
  apparently 
  identical. 
  Second, 
  it 
  seems 
  evi- 
  

   dent 
  that 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  some 
  change 
  in 
  minor 
  characters 
  

   of 
  sculpture, 
  since 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  possible 
  to 
  match 
  certain 
  of 
  

   the 
  fossils 
  exactly 
  with 
  modern 
  forms. 
  In 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  

   fact 
  that 
  other 
  researches 
  indicate 
  that 
  insect 
  evolution 
  

   has 
  been 
  extremely 
  slow, 
  so 
  that 
  many 
  species, 
  even 
  as 
  

   old 
  as 
  the 
  Tertiaries, 
  are 
  rather 
  difficult 
  to 
  discriminate 
  

   from 
  their 
  modern 
  allies, 
  no 
  more 
  marked 
  divergence 
  

   would 
  be 
  anticipated. 
  

  

  Besides 
  a 
  few 
  small 
  fragments 
  that 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  deter- 
  

   mined, 
  the 
  following 
  species 
  are 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  collec- 
  

   tions 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  