IV 
Introduction 
HISTORICAL RESUME 
Thirty-two of the forty-one recorded genera were described by Stal, 
Schmidt, Distant, Jacobi, and Melichar, and these same authors are re¬ 
sponsible for most of the species recognized in this catalogue. Bergroth, 
China, Gerstaecker, Hesse, Muir, and Signoret were the authors of the 
other genera and some of the species. Melichar 1923a: 149 gives keys to 
and descriptions of the thirty-five genera that were known at that time 
and a detailed catalogue of the known species. 
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION 
The species of this family are found chiefly in the tropical and subtropical 
regions of the World. About two-thirds of the known species have been 
recorded from the Eastern Hemisphere and one-third from the Western 
Hemisphere. In the Eastern Hemisphere while extending from Okinawa, 
Formosa, and China, and from Arabia, Iran, and India through most of 
the East Indies and New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, south to New 
South Wales, they seem to be absent from the New Hebrides Islands, 
Loyalty Islands, and New Zealand. No species have been recorded from 
Europe, America north of Mexico, the West Indies, Polynesia, Micronesia, 
and Hawaii. In the Western Hemisphere they extend as far north as San 
Luis Potosi and Tamaulipas, south through Central America to Rio de 
Janeiro. 
The known geographic distribution of each species is indicated by super¬ 
script figures at the end of the lines, which correspond to geographic regions 
designated by the same superscript figures. In general we have indicated 
the distribution as given by the author of the reference, using the country 
as the smallest unit except in the larger countries, where states and prov¬ 
inces are used as the smallest units. In the larger island groups the indi¬ 
vidual islands are indicated wherever possible, in view of the importance 
of island endemism. 
THE PURPOSES TO BE SERVED BY A CATALOGUE OF INSECTS 
A catalogue of animals should serve practically all fields of biology. It 
should be, therefore, as complete a listing of all the records of families, 
subfamilies, tribes, genera, species, and varieties as it is possible for the 
author to assemble. The nature of the reference is of the greatest impor¬ 
tance. A student of zoogeography should be able to find a complete list of 
the regions inhabited by the various species. The student of ecology should 
be able to find references to all that is known about the life history, food 
plants, and other pertinent data. The student of economic entomology 
should be able to check the histories of those species that are suspected of 
being injurious to plants. The plant disease specialist should be able to 
