MICROLEPIDOPTERA OF PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 3 



should, therefore, be made with utmost caution; however, this applies 

 to the absence of certain elements. The presence of other elements, 

 of com"se, renders absolute and, therefore, important zoogeographic 

 information. 



The available material of Alicrolepidoptera, however scanty, has a 

 pronovmced Malayan character, with distinctly marked elements 

 from Borneo, Celebes, and, also, Java. Unfortunately, the faunas 

 of the former two islands are comparatively little knoAMi. 



The Papuan element is not nmnerous, but imdoubtedly present. 

 Perhaps the most marked and important in this respect is the charac- 

 teristic genus Peridaedala Meyi'ick (Olethreutinae), -uith three species 

 in New Guinea and not less than six m the Phihppmes; two records 

 of the genus from the Great Simda Islands have recently become 

 available. 



Little can be said as yet of the microlepidopterous elements of the 

 early northern invasion in Luzon. Of the thi-ee species which occur 

 in both Formosa and the Pliilippines, one indeed is from Luzon, but 

 the second is from Panay and the third from Mindanao. 



The most characteristic featiu-e of the fauna without doubt is its 

 high percentage of endemisms, especially of the species. Of the total 

 of 291 species, 203 are endemic, 88 apodemic. Of the 138 genera, 

 however, only 18 are endemic, 120 apodemic. These endemisms 

 are not always striking, although some marked exceptions occur. 

 Most characteristic are numerous \4carious species, differing from 

 their allies in neighboring regions by minor external structiu-e and 

 by genitalia. Some of these forms have escaped the attention of 

 former authors and were erroneously identified M-ith their closest 

 relatives from other regions. 



This interesting feature shows the considerable independence of 

 the Philippine faima and that the isolation of the region must have 

 been of sufficient duration to create the nmnerous \dcarious species, 

 but that it was not long enough for the development of so many 

 genera. 



Although the Philippine Islands represent a region that is smaller 

 than the neighboring "Simda Land" (the Sunda shelf) or the Papuan 

 region, its flora, faima, and geology are certainly not less complex. 

 One is, therefore, entitled to expect the existence of as rich a fauna of 

 Microlepidoptera as in the other two regions; the more so because 

 of the great variety of plant pro\'inces in the Philippines, the diversity 

 of altitude of the habitats and the existence of extensive forests, 

 especially the lowland dipterocarpous forest. 



It was, therefore, a reciu"rent disappointment to discover how 

 limited is om* knowledge of the Philippine Microlepidoptera. When 

 studying the faunas of the Malay Archipelago and the Papuan region 



