MUNROE REVISITED - A SURVEY OF WEST-INDIAN BUTTERFLY FAUNAS AND THEIRSPECIES-AREA RELATIONSHIP

The latest butterfly species numbers for sixty-seven West Indian islan ds and South Florida are presented. Estimating the species richness of insular faunas is rarely straightforward and the difficulties are dis cussed in the context of West Indian butterflies, The data are conside red minimum estimates because the number of species overlooked is stil l likely to exceed the number of vagrant and extinct species accidenta lly included. With this caveat in mind, the species-area relationship is examined. The correlation between island area and species richness was first described for West Indian butterflies by Eugene Munroe in 19 48. Despite an additional fifty-seven data points, today's species-are a regression (slope. z = 0.20: intercept, c = 1.06) is not significant ly different from that observed in 1948 (z = 0.26; c = 0.80). To our k nowledge, butterflies hale the flattest species-area regression report ed for any West Indian taxon. The possible implications of the species -area relationship for the biogeography of West Indian butterflies are discussed.