De Selys Longchamps on the British Libellulidse. 219 



an isolated specimen, ought to be sought for again before being 

 regarded as positively British, — the more so, as the accounts of 

 the occurrence of several of them do not present satisfactory de- 

 tails : these are— 



Libellula vulgata. Gomphus forcipatus. 



Fonscolombii. Lestes viridis. 

 Cordulia metallica. virens. 



Gomphus flavipes. barbara. 



[I shall not mention the Libellula Spa?'shalii } Dale MSS., named 

 after the only specimen, which Mr. Sparshall thought he took at 

 Horning, because Mr. Curtis supposes it exotic] There remain 

 at all events thirty-eight very certain species. 



On examining the total list of the forty-six species, I find that 

 forty-four inhabit England, twenty-two Scotland, and twenty-two 

 Ireland. No species is exclusively peculiar to the British Isles ; 

 all are found in other parts of Europe. 



Mr. W. Thompson of Belfast, in his able Report on the Fauna 

 of Ireland (1843), compares the number of Reptilia which are 

 found in Belgium with those of England, and also with those of 

 Ireland; and he remarks that, in going from east to west, the 

 number successively diminishes, almost in the same proportion 

 between Belgium and England as between England and Ireland. 

 In fact Belgium possesses twenty-two Reptilia, England eleven, 

 and Ireland five. With respect to the Libellulse, England pos- 

 sesses, it is true, double the number of those of Ireland, but Bel- 

 gium has only a third more than England ; that is to say, fifty- 

 eight species, but in truth positively Belgian. All the British 

 Libellulse are equally found in Belgium, except the Cordulia Cur- 

 tisii and the Agrion tenellum, two species of the south-west of 

 France and of Spain, and the Gomphus flavipes. 



In addition to these, Belgium possesses — 



Libellula brunnea, Fonsc. (caerules- Gomphus pulchellus, De Selys (nee 



cens, De Selys, olim.) Steph.). 



Libellula pedemontana, Allioni. Cordulegaster bidentatus, De Selys. 



rubicunda, L. iEschna affinis, Van der Lind. 



pectoralis, Charp. Lestes fusca, Van der Lind. 



caudalis, Charp. Sophia speciosa, Charp. 



Epitheca bimaculata, Charp. Agrion lunulatum, Charp. 



Cordulia flavomaculata, Van der hastulatum, Charp. 



Lind. Lindenii, De Selys. 



As the species of Libellulidse have in general a habitat which 

 extends over many countries, but are often wholly local, it is pro- 

 bable that several of the fifteen Belgian species above mentioned 

 will be found in Great Britain. 



of which have the greatest analogy to those of the Highlands, is also very 

 poor in Libellulidae, and is remarkable for the presence of the Cordulia 

 arclica, which has been also found in Scotland and in Scandinavia. 



R2 



