Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon Part 49

"The _Hydrophilidae_ have a more northern aspect, as is generally the case with aquatic species.

"The order _Strepsiptera_ is here considered as belonging to the _Mordellidae_, and is represented by the genus _Myrmecolax_, which is peculiar, as yet, to Ceylon.

"In the _Curculionidae_ the single species of _Apion_ will recall to mind the great abundance of that genus in North Europe.

"The _Prionidae_ and the two following families have been investigated by Mr. Pascoe, and the _Hispidae_, with the five following families, by Mr.

Baly; these two gentlemen are well acquainted with the above tribes of beetles, and kindly supplied me with the names of the Ceylon species.

Order ORTHOPTERA.

"These insects in Ceylon have mostly a tropical aspect. The _Physapoda_, which will probably be soon incorporated with them, are likely to be numerous, though only one species has as yet been noticed.

Order NEUROPTERA.

"The list here given is chiefly taken from the catalogue published by Dr. Hagen, and containing descriptions of the species named by him or by M. Nietner. They were found in the most elevated parts of the island, near Rangbodde, and Dr. Hagen informs me that not less than 500 species have been noticed in Ceylon, but that they are not yet recorded, with the exception of the species here enumerated. It has been remarked that the _Trichoptera_ and other aquatic _Neuroptera_ are less local than the land species, owing to the more equable temperature of the habitation of their larvae, and on account of their being often conveyed along the whole length of rivers. The species of _Psocus_ in the list are far more numerous than those yet observed in any other country, with the exception of Europe.

Order HYMENOPTERA.

"In this order the _Formicidae_ and the _Poneridae_ are very numerous, as they are in other damp and woody tropical countries. Seventy species of ants have been observed, but as yet few of them have been named. The various other families of aculeate _Hymenoptera_ are doubtless more abundant than the species recorded indicate, and it may be safely reckoned that the parasitic _Hymenoptera_ in Ceylon far exceed one thousand species in number, though they are yet only known by means of about two dozen kinds collected at Kandy by Mr. Thwaites.

Order LEPIDOPTERA.

"The fauna of Ceylon is much better known in this order than in any other of the insect tribes, but as yet the _Lepidoptera_ alone in their cla.s.s afford materials for a comparison of the productions of Ceylon with those of Hindustan and of Australasia; nine hundred and thirty-two species have been collected by Dr. Templeton and by Mr. Layard in the central, western, and northern parts of the island. All the families, from the _Papilionidae_ to the _Tineidae_, abound, and numerous species and several genera appear, as yet, to be peculiar to the island. As Ceylon is situate at the entrance to the eastern regions, the list in this volume will suitably precede the descriptive catalogues of the heterocerous _Lepidoptera_ of Hindustan, Java, Borneo, and of other parts of Australasia, which are being prepared for publication. In some of the heterocerous families several species are common to Ceylon and to Australasia, and in various cases the faunas of Ceylon and of Australasia seem to be more similar than those of Ceylon and of Hindustan. The long intercourse between those two regions may have been the means of conveying some species from one to the other. Among the _Pyralites, Hymenia recurvalis_ inhabits also the West Indies, South America, West Africa, Hindustan, China, Australasia, Australia, and New Zealand; and its food-plant is probably some vegetable which is cultivated in all those regions; so also _Desmia afflictalis_ is found in Sierra Leone, Abyssinia, Ceylon, and China.

Order DIPTERA.

"About fifty species were observed by Dr. Templeton, but most of those here recorded were collected by Mr. Thwaites at Kandy, and have a great likeness to North European species. The mosquitoes are very annoying on account of their numbers, as might be expected from the moisture and heat of the climate. _Culex laniger_ is the coast species, and the other kinds here mentioned are from Kandy. Humboldt observed that in some parts of South America each stream had its peculiar mosquitoes, and it yet remains to be seen whether the gnats in Ceylon are also thus restricted in their habitation. The genera _Sciara, Cecidomyia_, and _Simulium_, which abound so exceedingly in temperate countries, have each one representative species in the collection made by Mr. Thwaites.

Thus an almost new field remains for the Entomologist in the study of the yet unknown Singhalese Diptera, which must be very numerous.

Order HEMIPTERA.

"The species of this order in the list are too few and too similar to those of Hindustan to need any particular mention. _Lecanium coffeae_ may be noticed, on account of its infesting the coffee plant, as its name indicates, and the ravages of other species of the genus will be remembered, from the fact that one of them, in other regions, has put a stop to the cultivation of the orange as an article of commerce.

"In conclusion, it may be observed that the species of insects in Ceylon may be estimated as exceeding 10,000 in number, of which about 2000 are enumerated in this volume.

Cla.s.s ARACHNIDA.

"Four or five species of spiders, of which the specimens cannot be satisfactorily described; one _Ixodes_ and one _Chelifer_ have been forwarded to England from Ceylon by Mr. Thwaites."

NOTE.--The asterisk prefixed denotes the species discovered in Ceylon since Sir J.E. Tennent's departure from the Island in 1849.

Order COLEOPTERA, _Linn._

Fam. CICINDELIDae, _Steph._

Cicindela, _Linn._ flavopunctata, _Aud._ discrepans, _Wlk._ aurofasciaca, _Guer._ quadrilineata, _Fabr._ biramosa, _Fabr._ catena, _Fabr._ *insignificans, _Dohrn._

Tricondyla, _Latr._ femorata, _Wlk._ *tumidula, _Wlk._ *scitiscabra, _Wlk._ *concinna, _Dohrn._

Fam. CARABIDae, _Leach._

Casnonia, _Latr._ *punctata, _Niet._ *pilifera, _Niet._

Ophionea, _Klug._ *cyanocephala, _Fabr._

Euplynes, _Niet._ Dohrni, _Niet._

Heteroglossa, _Niet._ *elegans, _Niet._ *ruficollis, _Niet._ *bimaculata, _Niet._

Zuphium, _Latr._ *p.u.b.escens, _Niet._

Pheropsophos, _Solier._ Cateisei, _Dej._ bimaculatus, _Fabr._

Cymindis, _Latr_ rufiventris, _Wlk._

Anchisia, _Niet._ *modesta, _Niet._

Dromius, _Bon._ marginiter, _Wlk._ repandens, _Wlk._

Lebia, _Latr._ *bipars, _Wlk,_

Creagris, _Niet._ labrosa, _Niet._

Elliotia, _Niet._ paltipes, _Niet._

Maraga, _Wlk._ planigera, _Wlk._

Catascopus, _Kirby._ facialis, _Wied._ reductus, _Wlk._

Scarites, _Fabr._ obliterans, _Wlk._ subsignans, _Wlk._ designans, _Wlk._ *minor, _Wlk._

Clivina, _Latr._ *rugosifrons, _Niet._ *elongatula, _Niet._ *maculata, _Niet._ recta, _Wlk._