Composition and origin of the ground beetle fauna (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Abstract

The large and complex ground-beetle fauna of Sri Lanka has never been taxonomically or ecologically analysed. Andrewes (1929, 1935) and Fowler (1912) began the taxonomy, but completed only a small part of the task. Despite the lack of formal taxonomy, it is the purpose of the present paper to provide a preliminary analysis of our present knowledge of the Sri Lankan ground-beetle fauna in terms of biogeography and natural history and contrast it with that of New Guinea and in part, Japan, which lie just outside the eastern end of the Oriental Region. It is now possible and timely to do this because over the last 15 years, three Institutions (named below) devoted much time and resources towards collecting insects in Sri Lanka. I have taken the opportunity to accumulate all the Carabidae (s. lat.) from these Institutions as well as others and, although the taxonomy in a formal sense remains to be done, it is now possible to discuss the probable origins and composition of the fauna in a general way. Darlington, in a series of papers (1952–1971), discussed the origin and composition of the ground-beetle fauna of New Guinea, concluding that nearly two-thirds of that country’s fauna (where origin of groups could be determined) had its origin in the Oriental region; some of the species range as far as India, but very few (16) to Sri Lanka. The same seems to be the case with part of the Japanese fauna (cf. Habu 1967, 1973, 1978).