THE PRESENCE OF RIDGEWAYIA-MARKI-MINORCAENSIS N-SSP IN THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN

Fifteen specimens of Ridgewayia marki minorcaensis n. ssp., collected from Calan Porter Cave, Minorca (western Mediterranean) on 18 July, 19 88, are compared with closely related species. The presence elf a hith erto undescribed structure on the basis of the right fifth leg of the male justifies establishing a new subspecies. This is the second recor d of this species, next to that from the Bermuda islands, and thus rep resents an interesting geographic distribution. The presence, in the s ame cave, of Exumella polyarthra a Fosshagen, 1970, until now found on ly in the Bahamas, might pose the hypothesis of a relict character of these Mediterranean populations.