The biogeography of Coccinellidae in the Pacific area

This paper is an attempt to sum up our knowledge of the coccinellid fauna in the Pacific area. About 560 species have been recorded from the area, in which Australia has been included because it is essential for a proper understanding of the Melanesian insular faunas. Major points emerging from this study are: a significant reduction in the number of species from west to east; the prevalence of Oriental and Australian influences over American influences; the difficulty of determining faunal characteristics for most sub-regional units; the great difference between the New Guinean and Australian faunas, the former, though not well investigated as yet, displaying a much stronger Oriental influence and a wide variety of endemic forms; recent artificial dispersal by man for purposes of biological control, which many sometimes completely mask the original fauna. It must be admitted that a great deal of taxonomic work remains to be done before we can claim to have cocomprehensive biogeographic synthesis of this family in the Pacific.