Composition and Distribution of Insect Faunas of the World. 3. Palaeotropical Kingdom

摘要

Abstract This chapter is devoted to the Palaeotropical Kingdom, one of the four major zoogeographic entities distinguished in the world fauna. In the regionalization system proposed by the author, this kingdom includes the Afrotropical, Madagascan, Indo-Malayan, Papuan, and Pacific zoogeographic regions. The composition of its insect fauna together with the underlying historical and ecological factors is described, with emphasis on the common features that determine its integrity, as well as the differences between its constituent parts. The zoogeographic analysis is largely based on the material of several insect taxa best studied in this respect: the beetle families Carabidae, Tenebrionidae, Cerambycidae, Curculionidae, the orders Orthoptera and Lepidoptera, and some others. Certain endemic taxa characteristic of individual zoogeographic units are also discussed.