LVTZ, LIST OF GREATER ANTILLEAX SPIDERS 123 



Lot been found in the Greater Antilles and 53.8 per cent, of those known 

 from the Greater Antilles have not been reported from the Lesser An- 

 tilles. In the Lesser Antilles 6.5 per cent, of the genera are peculiar 

 and in the Greater, 5.1 per cent. In the Lesser Antilles 43.5 per cent, 

 are strictly American and in the Greater. 42.7 per cent. The last two 

 comparisons indicate considerable similarity in the general character of 

 the two faunae and raise doubt as to the significance of the fact that half 

 of the fauna of each division is distinct from that of the other division. 

 Do the two divisions have significantly distinct faunge? Taking Ilis- 

 paniola because it is in the midst of the Greater Antilles and bearing in 

 mind that further study of the Hispaniolan spiders is more likely to 

 Ijring out differences than similarities because we are now ignorant of 

 the fauna of the interior, we note that 4.2.3 per cent, of its genera are 

 not known from the Lesser Antilles, 44.3 per cent, are not known from 

 Porto Eico, 30.8 per cent, are not known from Cuba and 65.4 per cent, 

 are not known from Jamaica. The case of Jamaica is probably due, in 

 large ])art, to ignorance and a further study of Cuba and Porto Rico 

 vrithout a further study of Hispaniola would doubtless reduce their fig- 

 ures, but it must also be kept in mind that data for tlie Lessei' Antilles 

 is largely drawn from an island well down the line, so that we must con- 

 clude that with respect to the genera of spiders the Lesser Antilles are no 

 more different from the Greater Antilles than the different islands of 

 the latter are from each other. 



Of course, species show a much more limited geographic range than 

 genera and the actual distance of St. Vincent from the Greater Antilles 

 apart from purely faunistic factors becomes an important factor when 

 considering species. There are 168 species known from the Lesser An- 

 tilles of which 72.0 per cent, are not reported from the Greater Antilles, 

 and of the 226 species known from the Greater Antilles 79.2 per cent, 

 are not known from the Lesser. In the Lesser Antilles 52.4 per cent, 

 of the species are not known elsewhere and in the Greater Antilles, 42.5 

 per cent. It will thus be seen that the spider fauna of the rather isolated 

 Lesser Antilles is not much, if any, more specialized than that of the 

 Greater. Again taking Hispaniola for a basis of comparison we find 

 that of its 76 species, 73.7 per cent, are not known from the Lesser 

 Antilles, 68.4 per cent, are not known from the Porto Eican islands, 

 60.5 per cent, are not known from Cuba and 77.6 per cent, are not known 

 from Jamaica. To say the least, the material at hand would not justify 

 us in considering the Lesser Antilles any more distinct from the Greater 

 than anv of the islands of the Greater are from each other. 



