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The Caribbean Islands (or the West Indies) are recognized as one of the leading global biodiversity hot
spots. This is based on data on species, genus, and family diversity for vascular plants and non-marine vertebrates. This
paper presents data on genus level endemicity for the most speciose (but less well publicised) group of terrestrial
animals: the beetles, with 205 genera (in 25 families) now recognized as being endemic (restricted) to the West Indies.
The predominant families with endemic genera are Cerambycidae (41), Chrysomelidae (28), Curculionidae (26), and
Staphylinidae (25). This high level of beetle generic endemicity can be extrapolated to suggest that a total of about
700 genera of all insects could be endemic to the West Indies. This far surpasses the total of 269 endemic genera of all
plants and non-marine vertebrates, and reinforces the biodiversity richness of the insect fauna of the West Indies.
This paper summarizes the published information on the beetle fauna of the northern Leeward Islands (Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, Nevis, Saba, St. Barthélemy, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, St. Martin-St. Maarten, and smaller associated islands, excluding Montserrat). These islands are generally smaller, lower, and drier than the remaining Leeward and Windward islands of the Lesser Antilles island arc. The fauna contains 26 families, with 155 genera, and 218 species. The families with the largest number of recorded species are Staphylinidae (36), Cerambycidae (28), Scarabaeidae (25), Tenebrionidae (23), Curculionidae (18), and Carabidae (15). At least 7 species (3.2% of the fauna) were probably introduced to the island by human activities. Sixteen species (7.3%) are endemic (restricted) to a single paleo-island bank and likely speciated there. Twenty nine species (13.3%) are shared only with other islands of the Lesser Antilles (Lesser Antillean endemics), and 43 species (19.7%) are more widespread Antilles endemics. The remaining 123 species (56.4%) in the fauna are otherwise mostly widely distributed in the Antilles and the Neotropical Region. The local beetle fauna is largely an immigrant fauna and has mostly originated elsewhere than on the islands of the northern Leewards. Summary data on total species endemicity of the entire Lesser Antilles indicate the presence of at least 1278 endemic beetle species, which is a density of about 20.7 species per 100 km2. This is now equivalent to that of the endemic vascular plants of the Caribbean islands. This truly makes the Caribbean islands a biodiversity hotspot for beetles. For the northern Leewards, it is evident that the beetle diversity is markedly understudied, and that the actual number of species is many times higher than now known.
The beetles of Martinique, Lesser Antilles (Insecta: Coleoptera); diversity and distributions
(2011)
This paper summarizes the published information on the beetle fauna of the island of Martinique, in the Lesser Antilles. The fauna is known to contain 42 families, with 201 genera, and 270 species. The families with the largest numbers of species are Cerambycidae (57), Curculionidae (43), Scarabaeidae (42), Tenebrionidae (18), and Staphylinidae (17). At least 15species (5.5%) were probably accidentally introduced to the island by human activities. Forty six species (17.0%) are endemic (restricted) to the island and likely speciated on the island. Sixty seven species (24.8%) are shared only with other islands of the Lesser Antilles (Lesser Antillean endemics), and 26 species (9.6%) are more widespread Antilles endemics. The remaining 116 species (42.8%) in the fauna are otherwise mostly widely distributed in the Antilles and the Neotropical Region. The Martinique beetle fauna has mostly originated elsewhere than on Martinique and is largely an immigrant fauna from other islands of the West Indies or the continental Neotropics. The numbers of Martinique species shared with other larger islands of the Lesser Antilles are (north to south) Montserrat (73), Guadeloupe (175), Dominica (98), St. Lucia (68), St. Vincent (93), and Grenada (88). Undoubtedly, the real number of species on Martinique is much higher than now reported and may actually be around 1600 or more species.