ANTHICIDAE OF THE GREATER ANTILLES, 
AND A NEW SPECIES FROM VENEZUELA 
(COLEOPTERA)' 
By Floyd G. Werner 
Department of Entomology 
University of Arizona 
Tucson 85721 
Thirteen of the 29 species that are known or reported from the 
Greater Antilles appear to be endemic. Five (Anthicus darlingtoni, 
hispaniolae, macgillavryi, soledad and subtilis) make up the subtilis- 
group, which does not seem to have near relatives on the mainland. 
Three others stand quite isolated in their genera: Acanthinus schwarzi 
in an almost exclusively neotropical genus, Anthicus blackwelderi 
and russoi in a world-wide genus that contains many diverse ele- 
ments. A. blackwelderi is counted among the endemic species 
because it has different color patterns on the islands that it is known 
to inhabit; the form of the internal sac of the male genitalia is very 
different from that of possible relatives on the mainland. A. russoi is 
probably not properly placed in Anthicus, and is unlike any anthicid 
known to me in several details; Menozzi’s (1930) evidence that it is a 
myrmecophile with a native ant makes local origin seem logical. 
The 5 other endemic species are similar to mainland New World 
species. Mecynotarsus hispaniolae and jamaicanus belong to the 
elegans-group, which has species from Florida to Central America. 
Notoxus bipunctatus and jamaicus have been assigned to the 
monodon-group (Chandler 1978), which ranges from Canada to 
northern South America. Finally, Anthicus antilleorum seems to 
have originated in the Greater Antilles and spread to the Virgin 
Islands and Bahama Islands; its nearest relatives are found around 
the southern Caribbean. 
Within the 13 endemic species, there is inter-island variation in 
color pattern in 3: Anthicus antilleorum, blackwelderi and soledad: 
in each instance the Jamaican population is different from that of 
'Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station, Journal paper No. 3662. 
Manuscript received by the editor August 30, 1982. 
211 
