Composition and Distribution of Insect Faunas of the World. 4. Holarctic Kingdom

Abstract This chapter is devoted to the Holarctic Kingdom, one of the four major parts distinguished in the world fauna. This enormous zoogeographic entity, covering most of Eurasia and North America, is considered in greater detail, down to the level of provinces. The kingdom includes the Boreal, Ancient Mediterranean, East Asian, and Sonoran zoogeographic regions. The composition of its insect fauna together with the underlying historical and ecological factors is described, with emphasis on the common features that determine its integrity, as well as the differences between its constituent parts. The zoogeographic analysis is largely based on the material of several insect taxa best studied in this respect: the beetle families Carabidae, Tenebrionidae, Cerambycidae, Curculionidae, the orders Orthoptera and Lepidoptera, and some others. Certain endemic taxa characteristic of individual zoogeographic units are also discussed.

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