Anthicidae of the Greater Antilles, and a New Species From Venezuela (Coleoptera)

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 subtilisgroup, 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 elements. 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 antilleorurn 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.