MILLIPEDS FROM DOMINICA — HOFFMAN 35 



known from Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and the South Ameri- 

 can mainland. 



Order Polyzoniida 



Family Polyzoniidae 



Siphonotus purpureus Pocock 



Siphonotus -purpxireus Pocock, 1894, p. 479. — Loomis, 1934, p. 9. 

 Siphonotus miamiensis Causey, 1953, p. 71. 



A dozen specimens were taken at Antrim at 1,000 ft. on March 10, 

 1956. All are females, suggesting a very unequal sex ratio for the 

 species. 



This species has been reported from most of the islands of the Lesser 

 Antilles, including Dominica, and presumably is a synanthropic form 

 to some extent. It has also been collected in southern Florida, and 

 specimens from Miami were recently described as a new species on the 

 basis of having two transverse rows of setae on the tergites in contrast 

 to their complete absence as attributed to purpureus. Pocock's 

 original description contains no information on this character, and if 

 he subsequently published on it, the reference has escaped me. H. F. 

 Loomis found two rows of setae in all his material, which came from 

 six of the Antillean islands and from French Guiana, indicatmg a very 

 wide distribution for this character. The description of S. miamiensis 

 contains nothing to indicate that Loomis's paper had been consulted. 



It is possible that a restudy of all available material might show 

 on the basis of male gonopods that several species have been confused 

 under the name purpureas, but for the present it seems best to as- 

 sume a single form, widespread by commerce. 



Order Cambalida 



Family Epiuannolenidae 



Genus Epinannolene Brolemann 



Epinannolene Brolemann, 1903, p. 135. 



On the basis of existmg knowledge, we have every reason to think 

 that this genus may be of the greatest utility in studying faunal dis- 

 tribution, at least of diplopods, in the Caribbean region. Species of 

 Epinannolene occur very abundantly in the northern Andean region 

 of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama; others have been recorded 

 from Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Dominica, Grenada, and 

 Trinidad. The apparent absence of species from Jamaica is remark- 

 able. So far none of the species has been studied carefully enough to 

 give any idea about phylogeny and evolution; consequently, we are 

 ignorant of what might be primitive and what might be specialized 



