380 
Psyche 
[December 
wingless, are inhabitants of forest soil and deep litter, and must have 
limited dispersal abilities. Higher elevation Appalachian localities 
seem generally to be occupied by distinct, more distantly related, 
and very localized species. Lower elevation sites are more often 
occupied by more similar species which are more often of a wider 
distribution. This last generalization is reflected in the appalachiana 
species group which may have resulted from a more recent series of 
speciation events. There is not enough evidence to suggest how 
ranges may have been affected and populations isolated with the 
changed climatic conditions of the Pleistocene, but these are known 
to have markedly lowered vegetational zones in the southern 
Appalachians in the last glacial. Since most of the material reported 
on in this paper was incidentally gathered by persons in persuit of 
other beetles, many more species undoubtedly remain to be dis- 
covered. These may possibly more than double those already 
known, particularly in the poorly collected regions extending for 
some 260 km (160 mi) along the Appalachian and Blue Ridge crests 
between the NE corner of North Carolina, through Virginia, to 
Spruce Knob, West Virginia. A more firmly based interpretation of 
the evolutionary history of the genus in the southeastern United 
States will be possible when these taxa and additional distributional 
data become known. Because of inadequate material, this paper is 
only a preliminary report. This is a reflection of the still inadequate 
status of knowledge of the soil and litter faunas of North America in 
general. 
Acknowledgements 
I am deeply appreciative of the work of Hana Kukal in making 
the drawings. L. E. C. Ling, Carleton University, Department of 
Biology, assisted with the SEM examination of specimens. The 
museums from which I borrowed material, and their curators, as 
well as private collectors, are thanked for their courtesies. Mrs. 
Hazel B. Jones and the late Dr. Walter B. Jones offered many 
months of hospitality in Huntsville, Alabama, in support of my field 
work in Alabama and adjacent southeastern states. Field work from 
1965 to 1970 was supported by NSF grants to the Evolutionary 
Biology Committee, of Harvard University, and from 1971 to 
present by Canadian National Research Council operating grants. 
Drs. Alfred F. Newton, Henry F. Howden and John V. Matthews, 
Jr. reviewed the manuscript. 
