FORFICULIDAE

Popham, Edward J., 2000, The geographical distribution of the Dermaptera (Insecta) with reference to continental drift, Journal of Natural History 34 (10), pp. 2007-2027 : 2020-2022

FORFICULIDAE

( Map 10 )

The occurrence of the species of this widely distributed family is given in table 9. The numbers in brackets indicate the number of species of this family present in that area.

Figure 6 is based upon Sakai’s (1982) classi®cation of the For®culidae to which the Gondwanaland occurrences of each taxon have been added. The given order of the subfamilies is the same as that listed by Sakai (1982).

The geographical distribution of the For®culidae is summarized on map 10. The occurrence of seven of the eleven subfamilies in South America, with its occurrence

Africa points to this family originating in a area derived from both Africa and South America. The Opisthocosminae spread eastwards to India, South East Asia,

IG. 6. A possible tree for the subfamilies of the For®culidae with the areas of Gondwanaland in which they occur.

the East Indies and New Guinea, and where four species of the genus Acanthorax are endemic, a ®fth species occurs on the Bismarck Islands and in New Britain. Four of the subfamilies are endemic to South America, the Diaperasticinae are restricted to Africa and the Eudohrninae to the Orient and the East Indies. The Anechurinae , which arose in the Oriental Region, also spread northwards into Asia and Europe. The largest subfamily, the For®culinae, spread eastwards to India, which then became a secondary evolutionary centre, enabling the family to reach New Guinea and Australia. Sakai’s (1982) list mentions two Australian species, but the identi®cation of Doru speculiferum (Scudder) is doubtful (Brindle personal communication, 1997). The other Australian species is For W cula vilma Steinmann

5 F. modesta Menozzi) from New South Wales. The occurrence of the 157 (40%) species of this family in the Orient is in contrast to the scarcity of the For®culid species in Australia. The For®culinae also spread from north Africa into the Mediterranean area and northern Europe. Six species of Guanchia occur on the Canary Islands and two of For W cula on the islands of Madeira.

2022

Figures

MAP 10. Distribution of the For®culidae.