No. XIX.— COLEOPTERA, CUECULIONIDiE. By George Charles Champion, A.L.S., F.Z.S. (Plates 22—24.) Read 7th May, 1914. The Curculionidse here enumerated from the Seychelles, Aldabra, Chagos, and the adjacent islands number 134 species, 127 only of which can at present be identified with described forms. The presence of one entirely new group, the Phoenicobatina, including three genera and 28 species, shows that these islands have a comparatively I'ich weevil-fauna, now brought to light by Mr Hugh Scott's exhaustive methods of collecting in the mountain forests. Probably he is almost the first entomologist who has set to work to examine properly the leaf-bases of palms (more especially of the Coco-de-Mer) and screw-pines in these or any other tropical regions'^'. Hence, a very interesting series of minute forms has been discovered, and, as might be anticipated, they are nearly all new. The Cossonina, as usual in various Oceanic Islands (even in cooler regions like St Helena and New Zealand), are abundantly represented, and include 50 species, with ten new genera. The Trypetina and Antliarrhina (like most of the Phoenicobatina) are probably attached to palms, and doubtless endemic. Amongst the Cryptorrhynchina there is a singular dearth of apterous forms, one species only (an Acalles) being represented. The con-spicuous winged Otiorrhynchids, Cratopus spp., are, on the other hand, abundant, in individuals, both on the coast and in the mountains, though but few species are present. The apterous Hylobiina and Anchonina, insects living amongst dead leaves on the ground, are also characteristic weevils in the Seychelles, several species being common in the mountain forests. The three apterous Otiorrhynchids belong to as many genera, one of which seems to occur also in Madagascar. The Attelabinee, Barina, Cyladina, and Calandrinse are either introduced forms, or belong to genera occurring elsewhere, in Ceylon, Madagascar, S. Africa, &c. Out of a total of 134 species, at least 100 are probably endemic, and the entire group Phoenicobatina, so far as at present known, is peculiar to the Seychelles. Kolbe's list (1910) includes 17 species only for the same groups of the Rhynchophora. The Hawaiian Islands possess almost the same number of Curcuhonidse [vide Perkins, Introd. Fauna Hawaiiensis, p. xxii. (1913)]— 132 species, in 12 genera, endemic, and 14 species, in 9 genera, introduced. * See the general account of the collecting in Vol. xiv. of these Transactions, 1910, pp. 24, 25.
BioStor
