Page:The birds of Tierra del Fuego - Richard Crawshay.djvu/51

Rh Of the insects taken by myself, the greatest personality is a Horse-Fly, determined for me by Mr. E. E. Austen as Tabanus magellanicus, which attacks horses—doubtless also the guanaco, which is probably its original victim.

In Aphaniptera, I obtained a rare Flea (StepJianocirciis minervd) parasitic on Ctenomys.

Coleoptera are represented in Cicindelidæ, Carabidæ, Staphylinidæ, Siljjhidæ, Nitidulldæ, Coccinellidæ, Dascillidæ, Lampyridæ, Telephoridæ, Elateridæ, Tenebrionidæ, Lucanidæ, Geotrupidæ, Melolonthidæ, Rutelidæ, Ceramhyddæ, Chrysomelidæ, Curculionidæ. Large groups represented only by a single species are Longicornia and Phytopliaga. Important families apparently absent are Copridoe and Aphodiidce.

Some fifty species are accounted for in my collection.

In naming these as far as possible, some being new. Mr. Gilbert Arrow tells me they consist in a nearly equal degree of forms characteristic of the eastern plains and the western slopes of temperate South America, the latter constituent a very peculiar one showing distinct relationship with the Australian fauna. About the greatest personality is Agrius fallaciosus, one of the Tiger Beetles (Cicindelidæ). The handsomest insect is Ceroglossus sufuralis, one of the Ground Beetles (Carahidæ). Amhlyopmus fuegensis, in Staphylinidæ, is an extraordinary departure from other Coleoptera, in that it is parasitic on mammals. Of its host in this case I have no certain knowledge, but believe it to have come from Ctenomys. Taurocerastes patagonicus, the single representative in Geotrupidæ, is rare. I took but two examples, both males. Microplophorus magellamcus, the Longicorn, is most destructive to forest trees. Its larvae are a chief food of the woodpecker. Chrysomeelidæ are represented by Microtheca ochroloma. An insect likely to excite interest when met with is the handsome glossy-black wonderfully granulated Nyctelia granulata, one of the Cellar Beetles (Tenebrionidæ). Another of this family, common under all sorts