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 communi- 

 cated to me by the collector, Mr. 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, 1 7 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 com- 

 parative poverty of St. Vincent is great or small — I cannot say, as 

 I am 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 re- 

 stricted 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 



