OCR Text |
Show 1892.] THE ORTHOPTERA OF THE ISLAND OF ST. VINCENT. 197 the information given in Latin by Herr Brunner, as to localities at which the species have been observed, by some memoranda communicated to m e by the collector, M r . H . H . Smith, to which his initials are appended. The collection numbers in all 62 species, of which 19 appear to be peculiar to the island, 17 of these being here for the first time named and described. All the great divisions of the Orthoptera are represented, and in what may roughly be called the usual proportions, except in one respect, viz. the paucity of Acridiodea. The island appears to be favourable for the existence of Orthoptera, and, as it contains a variety of conditions, the number of species must be looked on as small compared with what would be found in a similarly varied area of equal extent in Central or Tropical America. What the true difference in this respect may be-whether the comparative poverty of St. Vincent is great or small-I cannot say, as I a m not aware that the Orthoptera of any one district of Equatorial or of Central America have been anything like completely worked up. Except in the two points I have just alluded to I do not perceive any points of peculiarity in the Orthopterous fauna of St. Vincent. The proportion of apterous to winged species seems to be about as usual, and the number of cosmopolitan or very widely distributed species is but small. I have drawn up a table in order to display the distribution of the species outside of the island. From this it will be gathered that 29 of the 62 occur in other of the W . Indian Islands, 34 have been found also in South or Central America, 6 exist in N . America, and 3 have a wide distribution. Of the 26 species found in other W . Indian Islands (not including the cosmopolitan forms) the majority occur in Cuba, no less than 20 of the 26 being already known to be found there. There is nothing to indicate that these Orthoptera have been distributed by other means than those that occur in the case of continental regions; and Messrs. Brunner and Redtenbacher make no remarks that would lead us to suppose that they are modified or varietal forms: the species that are known from elsewhere are not alluded to as varieties, and the forms that are described as peculiar are apparently distinguished by characters of normal specific value. In reference to the comparative poverty of the island in species, it might be suggested (by those who take it for granted that the fauna of the island is an entirely derived one) that this poverty is due to the fact that not all the species that could find subsistence in the island have been able to make their way thither. But it appears at least equally probable that the poverty may be due to the restricted range that the small area of the island affords to its inhabitants. The paucity of Acridiodea I see no way of comprehending with any certainty; but as this division is not only the most numerous in species elsewhere, but is also the one in which activity is as a |