Abstract
The two sympatric species S. zonata and S. prophetarum do not exhibit identical distribution in the desert regions of Israel and Sinai. Only S. prophetarum appears able to inhabit regions with average annual rainfall lower than 100 mm and with only 10–20 rain days from November through March. Experiments were designed to test the assumption that S. prophetarum is better able to gain and conserve water. It was found that the net water gained by S. zonata was 17–33 per cent of the initial body water pool, while S. prophetarum gained only 3–7 per cent. Therefore, the assumption was rejected. It seems that the explanation for the inverse relationship between physiological traits of water economy and the geographical distribution is related to the different habitats with which the two species are associated.
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