P. J. Darlington, Jr.
West Indian Carabidae II.: Intinerary of 1934; Forests of Haiti; New Species; and A New Key to Colpodes.
Psyche 42:167-215, 1935.

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PSYCHE
VOL. XLII DECEMBER, 1935 No. 4
WEST INDIAN CARABIDE 11. : ITINERARY OF 1934 ; FORESTS OF HAITI; NEW SPECIES; AND
A NEW KEY TO COLPODES*
BY P. J. DARLINGTON, JR.
Museum of Comparative Zoology
In this, my second paper on West Indian Carabidse,' are presented the results of a collecting trip to Cuba, Jamaica, and Haiti made between July 28 and November 28, 1934, through a grant from the Milton Fund of Harvard Uni- versity. I hope to continue this series of papers from time to time as additional material becomes available, and eventually to end it with a complete revision of the Carabidse of the West Indies, with discussions of their distribution and relationships, of the origin of the faunae of the isolated mountain ranges, and of other problems. ITINERARY: From August 2 to 12 aided by a small addi- tional grant from the Atkins Fund, I was at the Harvard station at Soledad, near Cienfuegos, Cuba, collecting espe- cially the smaller, more inconspicuous ground insects. On August 13 I arrived in Kingston, Jamaica, and went at once to Whitfield Hall (Miss. G. L. Stedman, office in Kings- ton) at about 4,500 ft. elevation on the south slope of the main range of the Blue Mts. From here it was easy to climb to fine collecting in the damp cloud forest of Blue Mt. Forest Reserve, and to reach Blue Mt. Peak, 7,388 ft., the highest summit on the island. On August 20 I re- turned to Kingston and motored across the island to Ocho Rios, on the north coast. Swamp and pond collecting *The publication of this article has been financed by a grant from the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
The first, "New West Indian Carabidse, with a List of the Cuban Species, appeared in PSYCHE, Vol. 41, 1934, pp. 66-131.



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168 Psyche [December
proved to be good, especially at Bogue, a large coconut plantation. Castle Daly (August 24-25, as the guest of Mr. Robert W. Bell) and Moneayue Lake (August 25-26) proved, entomologically, rather disappointing. On the 26th I returned to Kingston, staying at Mona Great House, near Hope Gardens, and spent the next three days working the Liffuanea Plain and nearby country. Ground beetles were unexpectedly numerous. A trip (afternoon of August 29) to the Rio Cobre at a point about 5 miles above Spanish- town, and to the swamps beside the main road from Kings- ton to Spanishtown, resulted in an especially fine collec- tion.
On August 30 I reached Haiti, meeting Dr. Marston Bates at Port-au-Prince, where we made our headquarters at the Sans Souci Hotel. After several days of delay, spent partly in collecting in the Cul de Sac region, we drove in a 1927 Buick roadster into- northern Haiti. From Septem- ber 5 to 11 we were at Ennery, about 1,000 ft. altitude, working especially along the fine little river near the town. On September 9 we made a rather hasty side trip to Mt. Basil, probably the highest mountain in northern Haiti, and found several fine, new mountain Carabidse in patches of very wet, low cloud forest on the summit plateau, about 4,700 ft. Engine trouble forced us to return to Port-au- Prince on September 11. We broke the drive south long enough for me to spend a very profitable four hours along the edge of the extensive swamps north of Dessalines. While our car was garaged, we persuaded Mr. Andre Audant, government entomologi~t of Haiti, to join us in a miniature "safari" to the neighborhood of La Visite, on the western end of the main range of La Selle, south of Port-au-Prince. Our schedule was arranged to the last detail through the good offices of Captain Frederick Baker, whose knowledge of the country and country people is un- surpassed. We were away from September 16 to 23, mak- ing our base camp in tall pine forest at over 6,000 ft., be- side the small river called by the local Negroes the Rivikre Blanche, but referred to by Wetmore' as the Riviere 'Birds of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, by Alexander Wet- more and Bradshaw H. Swales, Bulletin 156, United States National Museum, 1931.




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1935 ] West Indian Carabidse 169
Chotard. This stream flows south, and cannot be the north-flowing Riviere Blanche of the map.3 We used Wet- more's actual camp site (1. c., Plate 9). Ground collecting in the wet cloud forest was exceedingly good, but the pine forest, under which the ground cover had been burned, was barren.
Back at Port-au-Prince, we found ourselves unable to afford further auto travel, and Dr. Bates was forced to leave for Panama. After several days of delay, during which, through the great kindness of Dr. H. D. Barker, I was able to make auto trips to about 2,000 ft. in the foot- hills of the La Selle massif above Port-au-Prince (October 2), to the Riviere Froide about 6 miles south of the city (October 3), and to Poste Terre Rouge, 2,000 ft., in the mountains just north of the Cul de Sac (October 5), I left by public bus for Aux Cayes, on the southwestern penin- sula of Haiti. From Aux Cayes I hired a car inland to Camp Perrin, which I reached October 8. Two days suf- ficed to pacify the local authorities and hire porters, and the next 16 days were spent on foot in the maze of wet ranges which constitute the Massif de la Hotte. Our route lay first north from Camp Perrin along the narrow, new road, impassable for cars in rainy weather, which crosses the foothills toward Jeremie, then west by vile foot trails, and finally north to Desbarriere (about 4,000 ft.), on a spur which curves down first north and then west from the northern slope of La Hotte itself. From Desbarriere, October 13, with a local man as guide, I ascended the ridge to above Roche Croix (a prominent rock marked with a rude natural cross), to about 5,000 ft., and found, beside new beetles, a new genus of snake and a new lizard of a genus previously known only from Jamaica. Further ad- vance by way of the long ridge proved impracticable-the ground was covered with treacherous limestone forma- tions hidden under deep moss and bracken-so we packed and moved from Desbarriere down a thousand feet or so to Tardieu (pronounced more like "Targi" by the inhabi- tants) in the valley of the turbulent Riviere Tardieu, be- ^We used the Carte de la Republique d'Haiti, issued by the Direc- tion Generate des Travaux Publics, Port-au-Prince, 1928.



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170 Psyche [December
tween the ridge of Desbarriere and the north slope of La Hotte. From Tardieu I ascended the main peak (Pic de Macaya on the map, but called merely "La Hotte" locally; 7,800 ft. or a little less), taking four days (October 15-18) for the climb and descent. I spent an exceedingly cold night on top, with no cover except a leather jacket, and encountered various difficulties of no particular scientific interest. The climax of the ascent was partly spoiled by the discovery that surveyors had been up two or three years before, cutting a temporary trail from the other side, and had felled an acre or two of the big pines on the highest point to make room for surveying targets, but my catch of ground insects was more than satisfactory. From Oc- tober 19 to 22 our departure from Tardieu was blocked by the river, flooded by heavy rains; then two days of steady walking took us back to Camp Perrin. On October 26 and again on the 27th I collected along the shores of Etang Lachaux, a fine, small lake an hour's walk over a ridge east of Camp Perrin. This was perhaps the best single locality I found below 1,000 ft. for ground collecting. Mira- goane (October 30 to November 2), on the other hand, proved to be about the worst, in spite of the extensive swamps along the lake shore. On November 2 I reached Port-au-Prince again. Four days later an attack of ma- laria forced me to go up to Kenskoff, above the city, on one of the outer ridges of the Massif de la Selle, at about 4,500 ft., to rest and recuperate in the cool climate. I did a little collecting in the neighborhood, from about 4,000 ft. to Morne Tranchant, about 6,000, directly above Kens- koff. From November 15 to 20, after returning to Port- au-Prince, I made a very unprofitable trip to Manneville, at the western end of Etang Saumiitre, and to swampy Trou Caiman nearby, and an equally unprofitable ascent of Mt. Trou d'Eau
(about 5,200 ft.). This is the highest
Haitian peak just north of the Cul de Sac, near Thoma- zeau. On November 22 I sailed from Port-au-Prince for New York.
PRESENT FORESTS OF HAITI: Four centuries of occupation by a large population of Negro peasants (according to the World Almanac there are about 2,550,000 people in the country to-day, or about 250 per square mile) have left no



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1935) West Indian Carabidas 171
real forest at low altitude in Haiti, nothing better than cactus and acacia scrub and dry, open woodland, and even these exist only where fresh water is not available for humans. A single exception should perhaps be made of the tip of the southwestern (Tiberon) peninsula, near Dame Marie. Here, according to Dr. Barker, who has seen the region from the air, good forest seems to be continuous from the westernmost ranges of the Massif de la Hotte down almost to sea level. The vegetation indicates a local rainfall of nearly 200 inches a, year. With this exception, all the wet forest of Haiti (I am speaking of the country, not the island, for I do not know Santo Domingo) is now confined to the mountains.
The mountains of the country of Haiti form three nab ural geographical divisions. Each division has its own distinctive ground fauna, found as a rule only in the rem- nants of cloud forest at high altitudes. Almost all of the true mountain species and even some of the genera are restricted to a single one of these divisions. This is true not only of the insects but of the lizards, frogs, mollusks, Peripatus, etc. as well. The mountains of the northern part of Haiti, north of the Cul de Sac, may probably be considered faunistically as a single division (Division I.). They are relatively low and accessible, and what little forest is left on them is confined to the summits of a very few ranges. The sooner these mountains are thoroughly explored zoologically, the better, for some forest species have probably already become extinct, and others will fol- low. On the plateau of Mt. Basil (4,700 ft), to which we climbed from the road between Ennery and St. Michel de I'Atalaye, there is still a good deal of low, dense, wet cloud forest. The plateau is rough and there is no permanent drinking water, and the Negroes do not like the cold at that altitude, but even so they climb up daily and are grad- ually clearing the best growth to plant vegetables. In 1928 there were some patches of much better cloud forest on Haut Piton (about 3,900 ft.) , near Port-de-Paix, according to Mr. James Bond, who climbed the mountain on an or- nithological reconnaissance, but they were rapidly being destroyed at that time. There is also a small area of forest on Fuilboreau, just north of Emery, but it is said to be



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172 Psyche [December
on a slope, and much drier than the plateau forests. I have .
not been able to learn definitely of any other good forest in the North, although a little may still exist on other iso- lated ranges. The summit of Morne Salnave (NW. Haiti) is said to be covered with low, scrubby second growth (Bond). The conditions I found on Mt. Trou d'Eau (5,200 ft.) are probably typical of most of the more accessible peaks: very dry, rather open woods on the lower slopes; pastures and gardens above, where the soil is better, xig'ht up to the summit, which was crowned by a corn field. South of the Cul de Sac, which forms a perfect barrier to mountain animals, the mountains are higher and wet- ter, and there are still large areas of forest. This is the case on the Massif de la Selle (Division II.) , or at least on the plateau of the main range, where there are extensive pine woods as well as long strips of dense, low cloud forest. The cloud forest, under which the soil is black and rich, ia being attacked by Negro farmers, who have pushed their gardens in places up to 7,000 ft,, but it will probably be many years before it is all destroyed. The pine woods "will probably last even longer, for the soil is poor, but unfor- tunately, at least on the western end of the range, which was all we saw, they have been marred by repeated burn- ing of the ground vegetation under the trees. Some of the outlying ridges, too, of this massif, have evidently sup- ported both pine and cloud forest in the past, but for the most part, as on Morne Tranchant above Kenskoff, the trees have all been cut and the mountain fauna persists, if at all, only in damp thickets and gullies. There is, how- ever, some good cloud forest left in the Crete Piquant (western) section of the La SeIIe massif (Bond). West of the higher ranges of the Massif dc la Selle, for perhaps 60 miles along the narrow middle part of the peninsula, lie a series of lower ridges without notable peaks. These, as can be seen from the road, are mostly either stripped or so dry as never to have been heavily forested. The latter is probably the case, for the ground life of the La Hotte mountain complex (Division III.) at the outer end of the peninsula has evidently long been isolated from that of La Selle. First of the important western moun- tains is Bonnet Carre, between Aquin and L'Asile, a broad



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19351 West Indian Carabidse 173
dome a little over 4,000 ft. high. Seen from La Hotte, this mountain seems still to be capped with at least a square mile of dark forest. It is entirely unknown entomological- ly. Botanically it is related to La Hotte, but with some peculiar forms. Between Bonnet Carre and the eastern- most rainforest (at about 2,000 ft.) on La Hotte there are 20 miles or more of low, dry ridges. The high ranges of the central part of the La Hotte massif (Pic de Macaya, Pic du Formon, and Pic de la Gde. Colline on the map), and apparently also most of the lower ranges to the west almost to the coast, are very heavily forested. On La Hotte itself is a completely unbroken tract, without even trails, probably 8 or 10 miles across the narrowest way. The forest is of two kinds: fine pine with unusually thick un- dergrowth and with thick moss and pine needles on the ground, and lower, denser, very wet cloud forest, without pine, fringed with cutting climbing bamboo and other atrocious plants. It is in the La Hotte region, of all Haiti, that there is to-day the best chance of finding novel forms of life, and it is undoubtedly there that natural conditions will persist longest.
DESCRIPTIONS : Wherever in the following pages definite proportions are given-for instance the relative width of head and prothorax-they are based on actual measure- ments made under a binocular microscope. Estimates made without measuring are likely to be surprisingly inaccurate. I have invariably measured the width of the head across the eyes at the widest point; width of prothorax, at widest point; length of prothorax, at middle, regardless of whether or not the anterior angles project forward; width of base of prothorax, between angles ; width of apex, between most advanced points of angles.
Ardis tomus alti~cola n. sp.
Very stout and convex; black, shining but not metallic; not spotted; legs piceous ; antennae, palpi, and tarsi rufous. Head with front margin of clypeus faintly convex; front lightly, vertex not distinctly transversely impressed. Pro- thorax suborbicular, moderately narrowed in front; lateral margins distinct to base; disk with usual fine middle line and anterior transverse impression ; not punctate. Elytra



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174 Psyche [December
broad and convex; humeri rounded; striae deep, impunc- tate, entire and strong at apex, 2nd as well as others entire at base; short accessory stria at extreme base close to su- ture; 3rd stria running to humeral margin; intervals con- vex, shining, 3rd with 5 setigerous punctures; trace of alutaceous microsculpture at extreme base of elytra. Last ventral with 2 setigerous punctures each side near margin. Front tibia with 1 strong and 1 weak tooth on outer side above terminal digit; front tarsi rather widely dilated. Length 4.7; width 1.8 mm.
HAITI: holotype (M. C. Z. no. 22012) and 1 paratype from Mt. Bourette, La Selle massif, 5,000 ft., Sept. 16 & 23; under mossy stones in a damp gully.
Very similar to A. Isevistriatus F. & S. of Guadeloupe (I have 1 specimen borrowed from the U. S. N. M.) but the prothorax of the Haitian species is less inflated at sides below the margin, and the 2nd elytral stria is not abbreviated basally as it is in Isevistriatus. Moreover the latter lacks scutellar striae and is much more alutaceous across the base of the elytra. The striae of the elytra are deeper at apex in the Haitian species.
Tachys (Tachyta) noctis n. sp.
Form average for Tachyta, rather parallel and subde- pressed, but head smaller than usual; black, appendages, mouth parts, and lateral margins of prothorax and (less distinctly) of elytra testaceous; upper surface entirely moderately alutaceous. Head 2/3 width prothorax; eyes only slightly prominent; front with usual 2 weak impres- sions; antennae short, 2nd and 3rd joints subequal, outer ones (except apical) moniliform ; mentum not biperforate, toothed at middle. Prothorax 2/5 or slightly less wider than long; sides slightly rounded anteriorly, approximately straight before ,the posterior angles (sometimes minutely, faintly sinuate) ; posterior angles nearly right; fine but distinct costa each side from base for 1/3 of length within (not on) margin ; lateral margins translucent, evenly ex- planate from base to apex, as wide or wider than in T. flovicauda; middle line and basal transverse impression well marked, anterior impression very faint. Elytra only slightly depressed; each about &striate (7th and 8th striae



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19351 West Indian Curabidse 176
barely detectable), inner strise strongly impressed, outer shallower, all except sutural slightly abbreviated at extreme apex; apical stria recurved as usual: outer edge 3rd inter- val with setigerous punctures just before middle and %, from apex. Two basal joints 8 front tarsus dilated, with anterior apical angles somewhat produced. Length 2.25- 2.5 ; width 1.0 mm. (slightly more or less). HAITI: holotype (M. C. Z. no. 22014) and 4 paratypes from Roche Croix, Massif de la Hotte, 5,000 ft, Oct. 13; 3 paratypes from northeastern foothills La Hotte, Oct 10- 24 ; under bark.
Resembles in color the description of marginicollis Schaum (now called neotropicus Csihi) of Venezuela except that the appendages, of fwctis, are testaceous (not rufo- piceous), with femora not infuseate. The elytra are described as bistriate in wwrginicollis; there are numerous striae in noetic.
Tachys (Tachyura) tritax n. sp.
Form average for subgenus, convex; piceous, not dis- tinctly spotted, shining, moderately iridescent ; appendages and mouth parts testaceous. Head about % width pro- thorax, eyes prominent; front shining, briefly bi-impressed anteriorly; antennae moderate, middle joints about longer than wide; menturn not biperforate, toothed at middle. Prothorax about wider than long, sides strong- ly arcuate anteriorly, slightly sinuate before the obtuse but not blunted basal angles; latter briefly carinate; side margins narrow; basal transverse impression deep, punc- tulate, but not distinctly foveate; middle lime very fine, anterior impression nearly obsolete. Ely tra each 3-striate ; sutural stria entire and recurved as usual, 2nd abbreviated about 1/6 from base and apex, 3rd extending from anterior puncture (about 1/3 from base) to slightly behind posterior puncture (about 1/3 from apex), all 3 striae well impressed- Male with 2 baaal joints each front tarsus slightly dilated, with anterior apical angles slightly pro- duced. Length 2.2-2.7; width 1.0-1.1 mm. HAITI : holotype 8 (M. C. Z. no. 22015) and 5 paratypes from Camp Pen-in, Oct. 8-27; 10 paratypes from Trou Caiman, Nov. 15-20; 1 paratype from Emery, Sept. 6; 2



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176 Psyche [December
paratypes from Mt. Trou d'Eau, 4,000 ft., Nov. 19; most taken beside temporary muddy pools in roads. In Hayward's key to the North American species of Tachyura (Trans. American Ent. Soc. 26, 1899, pp. 202-), tritax runs to incurvus Say, agreeing in general form and in the structure of the basal transverse groove of the prothorax, but incurvus is spotted and has only a sutural stria on each elytron. Most of the known Central Ameri- can species of this group have the basal groove strongly tri- or uni-foveate at middle, and none has other characters as in tritax. The striation of the elytra in the latter is remarkable for its constancy.
Tachys (s. s.) carib n. sp.
Moderately broad and depressed; rather shining testa- ceous or brownish testaceous, head darker, iridescence faint. Head about 2/3 width prothorax, but with eyes prominent, forming nearly right angles with sides of head behind them; antennae with middle joints 1/^ or slightly.more longer than wide; front with usual 2 rather shallow sub- parallel impressions; mentum biperforate and toothed. Prothorax about 3/5 wider than long; sides more or less strongly sinuate just before the right (but finely blunted) posterior angles ; disk with usual impressions. Elytra rather broadly oval; humeri rounded but distinct; each elytron with about 3 inner striae more or less impressed except at apex, outer strise faint or absent; anterior dorsal puncture almost on 4th stria 1/3 from base, posterior within hooked tip of recurved stride. Male with 2 basal joints each front tarsus narrowly dilated. Length 1.8-2.2 ; width 0.8-0.9 mm.
HAITI, CUBA, JAMAICA, PUERTO RICO: holotype 8 (M. C. Z. no. 22017) and 95 paratypes from Ennery, Haiti, Sept. 6-11; additional paratypes from Haiti as follows: 7, northeastern foothills La Hotte, 2000-4000 ft., Oct. 10-24 ; 10, Camp Perrin, Oct. 8-27; 1, Riviere Froide, Oct. 3. Also
the following specimens, not types : Cuba : 23, soledad, near Cienfuegos, Aug. 2-12; Jamaica: 1, Rio Cobre, 5 mi. above Spanishtown, Aug. 9; 1, Blue Mts., about 4,500 ft., Aug. 13-20. All specimens taken by myself by washing out gravel bars, piles of stones, and trash by clear, running



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19351 West Indian Carabidse 177
brooks and rivers. Also Puerto Rico: 2, Serralles Finca, Ponce, June 5, 1934, R. G. Oakley (U. S. N. M.) . In my key (1. c.) this runs to Tachys abruptus Darl., but carib is much smaller, with sides of prothorax more sinuate basally and dilated joints of 8 front tarsi much narrower.
Tachys trechulus n. sp.
Convex, rather ventricose, but otherwise of normal Tachys (s. s.) form ; piceous or rufo-piceous, with seri- ceous lustre but scarcely distinct iridescence ; appendages brownish testaceous, antennae darker in basal V^.. Head about 7/10 width prothorax, narrow and with elongate mandibles; eyes only slightly prominent; frontal sulci narrow, subparallel ; antennae moderate in length but with unusually long and conspicuous setae, middle joints about jh longer than wide; mentum biperforate and toothed. Prothorax just over 1/3 wider than long; sides arcuate anteriorly, straight posteriorly, very faintly sinuate before the obtuse, finely blunted posterior angles; base somewhat oblique at sides; disk convex; basal transverse and median longitudinal grooves fine, anterior transverse impression