Precinctive Insect Species in Florida

The number of insect species now occurring in Florida is estimated at about 12,500. Statements from specialists in 28 insect taxa (at the level of family or higher), representing some 40% of the fauna, suggest that about 12% of the total fauna (13% of the indigenous fauna, with range 0-43% among taxa) is precinctive. Immigrants form less than 8% of the total fauna. Only 42 (0.3%) species are known to have been introduced deliberately, for purposes of biological control. The proportions of immi grants and of precinctive species are far lower than in the Hawaiian insect fauna, but the proportion of immigrants exceeds that of the fauna of the contiguous United States as a whole