HYDROPHILID AE 



By a. d'Orchymont 



(With 1 Text-figure.) 



The material communicated by Mr. P. A. Buxton, Mr. W. M. GifEard, the 

 British and Bishop Museums, consists of eighty- two specimens belonging to two 

 sub-famihes (Sphaeridiinae and Hydrophilinae), three genera (Dactylosternum, 

 Noteropagus, Enochms) and six species. One of the latter {D. abdominale) is 

 nearly cosmopolitan, and is found in refuse or spoiled fruits. Another {E. 

 parvulus) is known to occur in Asia Minor, Africa, Madagascar, the Seychelles, 

 Aldabra I., Coetivy I. and India. A third form (D. subquadmtum), perhaps also 

 a refuse dweller, is similarly found in Tahiti, Fiji, Burn, Borneo and the 

 Philippines, whilst a fourth is perhaps the same as E. tritus Broun, of New Zealand. 

 The fifth (N. politus), living in rotten bark, has been recorded, too, from Java, 

 Sumatra, Indo-China and India, and is near akin to N. obscurus, known hitherto 

 only as occurring in Timor and Borneo. Finally the sixth and last species {E. 

 hryani) is apparently new to science. 



So far as the study of this small collection goes, we seem entitled to accept 

 the opinions of Kramer * and K. Friederichs f as to the manner in which the 

 Samoan group has been populated with animals and plants. The authors in 

 question draw attention to the heterogeneous character of the fauna of these 

 islands, which they consider to be due to accidental colonisation. This explana- 

 tion is evidently in accordance with the relatively recent geological age of the 

 group and its emergence above sea-level owing to volcanic action. For this 

 reason the Samoan fauna cannot be very rich. On the other hand, at least four 

 of the species forming the subject of the present contribution were collected in 

 considerable numbers. 



* Kramer, " Die Samoa Insein," 2 Vols., Ito, 956 pp., with 5 plates and 4 maps (Stuttgart : 

 1901-1903) ; " Der Tropenpflanzer " : Zeitschrift fur tropische Landwirtschajt , Beiheft 5 (Berlin : 

 1918). 



f K. Friederichs, " Die von Dr. K. Friederichs in Samoa und Indo-China gesammelten 

 Kafer " : ArcJiiv. filr Naturgeschichte, 88 Jahrg. Abt. A., 10 Heft, pp. 147-159, December 1922, 



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