ABSTRACT
— Previous biogeographical theories and models for West Indian butterfly biogeography are reviewed. The age of butterflies, endemism of the West Indian species, and their propensities for, or possible impediments with, dispersal are discussed. A combination vicariance/dispersal model for the evolution of the Antillean butterfly fauna originally proposed in 1989 is reviewed and updated within the general constraints of current geological evidence. Additional supportive documentation for biodiversity of butterflies in the Caribbean, and particularly for the geological history of Jamaica, the southern Hispaniolan block, the Bahama Islands, and the Lesser Antilles, is also presented.
