A List of the West Indian Dryopidæ (Coleoptera), With A New Genus and Eight New Species, Including One From Colombia
International Journal of
A LIST OF THE WEST INDIAN DRYOPID_ZE (COLEOP- TERA), WITH. A NEW GENUS AND EIGHT NEW SPECIES, INCLUDING ONE FROM COLOMBIA BY P. J. DARLINGTON, JR.. Museum of Comparative ZoSlogy, Cambridge, Mass.
BY P. J. DARLINGTON 0
0 Museum of Comparative ZoSlogy , Cambridge, Mass
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Since 1927, when I published a paper on the West Indian
"Helmidm" or Helminm (Psyche 34, pp. 91-97)., a
considerable amount of additional dryopid material has come to
hand. Most of it has been collected by myself during a trip
to Cuba, Jamaica., and Haiti which I was enabled to make
from August to November, 1934, through grants from the
Milton Fund and Atkins Foundation of Harvard University.
This paper is to report upon. this material and to bring our
knowledge of the West Indian fauna, up-to-date by listing the
species, sometimes with critical comments. It does not
pretend, however, to be a complete revision.
By the "West Indies" I do not mean to include Trinidad,
which is South American both geographically and
faunistically. Among the Dryopidm, the genera Dryops, Elsianus,
and Heterelmis occur in Trinidad (collected by me in 1929)
but are not, a,t least as yet, known from the. West Indies
proper, and one of the Trinidad species, of Helmis (s. lat.)
belongs to a group not yet known from the West Indies.
In my 1927 paper I stressed the. relationship of the West
Indian species with those, of Texas. Actually, of course,
many of the species show close relationship with Central
America as well as Texas, and there are some South
American elements in the Lesser Antilles. The West Indian fauna
and that of the adjacent mainland are still so imperfectly
known that there is not much point in discussing affinities in
more detail, except to. note that the West Indian fauna is
certainly depauperate.
The absence of Dryopidm in many rivers and brooks in
the West Indies is a striking phenomenon, worth recording
in detail. In Jamaica. I looked carefully for the family in
several rivers and mountain brooks on the south slope, of
the main range of the Blue Mountains, in the Hope River
near Kingston, and in several small, clear, rapid rivers near
Ocho Rios on the north coast, but did not find a single
specimen, although Dryopidee are known from the island. I vis.
ited also the Rio Cobre above Spanish,.own, which looked
like good dryopid wa.ter but was too flooded for collecting.
In Haiti I worked carefully in the river at Ennery and the
brooks on Mt. Ba.sil (northern Ha.iti), in the Rivire Cul
de Sac and the Rivire Froide (near Port-au-Prince), and
in various mountain brooks in the high Massif de. la Selle
(southeastern Haiti) up to over 6,000 ft. in the Rivire
Blanche on the La Selle plateau, with equally little result.
However, in the La. Hotte region (southwes.tern Haiti) I
found Dryo.pidse in every river and brook examined, from
the Ravine du Sud at Camp Perrin, under 1,000 ft., to a
small brook at Desba.rrire, just north of Mr. La Hotte, at
about 4,000 ft., the highest running water I saw in the. La
Hotte region. Five genera and eight, species of stream
loving Dryopide were found in this region. Possibly extensive
clearing of forests, resulting in heavy freshets, has
eliminated the insects in places by tearing up the .s,tream beds
and destroying aqua.tic vegetation, while they survive
where, as nea.r La Hotte, the. forest is mostly uncut or where
conditions are. favorable f,or some. other reason.
The proportions given in my descriptions have. been
determined by actual measurements. The types of all new species
are in the Museum of Comparative ZoSlogy. I am much
indebted to Mr. K. G. Blair for notes on some types in the
British Museum.
Subfamily Psepheninm
Psephe.nus Hald
Although this genus is not known from the West Indies,
an understa.nding of its. secondary sexual characters is
impo.rtant in dealing with its West Indian relatives. In
Psephenus lecontei Lec. the 3 differs from, the e as
follows" average, size smaller; prothorax less explana,te at
sides; pronotum less opaque; elytra slightly less distinctly
substriate; antennae slightly longer, heavier, and more
nearly serrate; maxillary palpi longer, heavier, with last
joint more triangular; front and middle tarsi not dilated
but with soles first 2 joints with numerous rather short,
slender papillae; middle coxm much more approximate,
mesosternum between them narrower and more acutely
only at s.ides of 7th, in emargination o apex o 5th), not
impressed; abdomen with 7 ventral segments (6th showing
6 as in
Pheneps n. gen.
Generally .similar to Psephenus, but more slender; head
free; co.xm similar; last tarsal joint elongate., but not quite
so much as in Psephenus epipleurm similar, nearly reachin
apex of elytra; sexual dimorphism of palpi, mesosternum,
and apical segments of abdomen similar. Differs from
Psephenus in clypeus and labrum nearly in plane o.f front,
not bent under head; in very ,long antennm reaching to near
middle o elytra at least in with 1st joint long, s (...truncated)