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they have been washed in with soil and will not survive.In many caves they abound and obviously reproduce.It is noteworthy that of only 17 earthwormsendemic to Mexico, seven are known solely fromcaves. Of the epigean species all are rare and seldomcollected from caves. Gates (1971) speculates that thenative earthworm fauna has been largely eliminatedby the hardy exotic species which now are widespreadin Mexico. The abundance of endemic speciesin caves may well reflect the ability of these wormsto survive in that environment. In addition to theseven endemic earthworms, at least II exotic specieshave been collected from Mexican caves (see Table8).Family AcanthodrilidaeFive species belonging to the family Acanthodri·lidae have been found in Mexican caves. Of the fourspecies which have be"en positively determined, all areknown only from the cave habitat and two appear tobe troglobites. Undetermined specimens of a probablyendemic species of Diplocardin have been foundin caves in San Luis Potosi and Tamaulipas. Pickford(1938) described Eodrilus oxkutzcabensis and Balanteodriluspearsei from caves in Yucatan. The latterspecies has recently been collected from a moist siltyarea in Actun Loltun, Yucatan (Gates, 1977). The remainingtwo species are troglobites and discussed below.GUATEMALA,.."".0-r,."'/.//Fig. 4.-Distribution of troglobitic and troglophilic earthworms of the family Acanthodrilidae: 1, Eodrilus albidus; 2, E.mexicanu8; 3, E. oxkut%cabensi8; 4, Balanteodrilwpear8ei; 5, E. oxkutzcabensi8 and B. pearsei.76