PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



by Ihe 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 85 Washington: 1937 No. 3027 



ON SOME ONYCHOPHORES FEOM THE WEST INDIES 

 AND CENTRAL AMERICA 



Bv Austin H. Clark 



Dr. Edward A. Chapin, curator of insects, United States National 

 Museum, has been so kind as to submit to me for study a small but 

 interesting collection of onychophores from the West Indies and 

 Central America. It includes nine specimens of Peripatus juliformis 

 danicus from St. Croix, two specimens of Epiperipatus harbouri 

 from Tobago, two specimens of Epiperipatus biolleyi from Costa 

 Rica, and a single specimen of a new species of M acroperipatus from 

 Haiti. 



The discovery of a species of M acroperipatus on the island of 

 Haiti is especially interesting, as this genus was known heretofore 

 only from Central and South America, ranging from Veracruz in 

 Mexico southward to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, including the island 

 of Trinidad. 



Five other onychophores are known from Haiti, all of which were 

 recorded and described by Prof. Charles T. Brues from specimens 

 collected by Drs. William M. Mann and P. J. Darlington. These 

 five forms are Pedpatus manni, related to the South American P. 

 sedgwicki, and four subspecies of the purely West Indian Peripatus 

 dominicae: P. d. haitiensis, P. d. lachauxensis^ P. d. hasilensis. and 

 P. d. darlingtoni. Other subspecies of Peripatus dominicae occur on 

 Dominica {P. d. dominicae)^ on Antigua and Montserrat [P. d. 

 antiguensis) ^ and on Puerto Rico and Vieques {P. d. juanensis). 



In Haiti the four subspecies of Peripatus dominicae occupy local- 

 ized and ecologically isolated habitats ; Peripatus manni occurs with 

 Peripatus dominicae haitiensis. 



18365—37 



