Center for Systematic Entomology, Gainesville, Florida
Date of this Version
4-10-2009
Abstract
The beetle fauna of the island of Barbados is summarized. It is now known to contain 202 genera, and 254 species (in 40 families), of which 232 are named at the species level. Undoubtedly, the actual numbers of species on Barbados are much higher than now known. Nine species are possibly endemic to the island, 15 have been intentionally introduced, and 51 have probably been accidentally introduced through human activity. The remaining 157 named species may occur naturally as a result of natural over-water dispersal processes. These species mostly have a wide distribution in the Antilles and Latin America. The total named fauna is thus about 72% naturally occurring, and 28% the result of human-aided dispersal.
Comments
Published in INSECTA MUNDI: A Journal of World Insect Systematics, # 0073 (2009). Published by the Center for Systematic Entomology, Inc., Gainesville, FL. http://www.centerforsystematicentomology.org/ Copyright © 2009 by the authors.