258 7 he Irish Naturalist. December, 



In a previous paper^ on the geographical distribution of 

 Armadillidians in Europe, published in 1895, he sa3-s : — "The 

 genus Elunia is entirelj' western, and contains only one 

 species, E. p7irp2irasccns B.-L-, a woodlouse of a purple-red 

 colour, remarkable for its simple eyes. Ver}' abundant in 

 the Atlantic archipelagos, in the Canaries, the Azores and 

 Madeira ; it occurs again at Cintra (Portugal), and in Western 

 Algeria, but the most curious fact about it is its range 

 northwards to the French Department of Les Charentes, 

 where it is acclimatised from Angouleme to Royan (ver}- 

 common twent}' years ago in this locality, it has become 

 much rarer lateh"), and southwards to Ca3^enne !" 



In yet another paper on the woodlice of Spain,'- he records 

 it from Constantina in the Sierra Morena, and in the same 

 paper referring to its French locality of Les Charentes, he 

 saj's, " where it has certainly been introduced." I am in 

 hopes that, now that it has been found again so much 

 further north, M. Dollfus may change his view on this point. 

 I cannot find that M. Dollfus refers in an}^ of his papers to 

 Prof. Budde-Lund's record from the Island of Nicobar, but 

 even omitting that record, it can be seen that this species 

 has a very wide distribution round the shores of the Atlantic ; 

 it must therefore be ancient, and may be undoubtedly classed 

 as an addition to the list of Lusitanian species which are 

 such an interesting element in the fauna of Ireland. 



These southern species must in all probability^ have migrated 

 northwards in ages long past, at a time when these islands had 

 a land connection with the Continent, and when the climate 

 was much warmer than it is now, and must, in fact, be re- 

 garded, as Dr. Scharff points out, as one of the most ancient 

 elements in our fauna. How tliey managed to reach these 

 islands, and then to survive what is known as the Glacial 

 period, are amongst the most interesting problems discussed 

 by Dr. Scharff in his books on " The History of the European 

 Fauna " and " European Animals." 



Fenagh, Co. Carlo w. 



* A. Doi.LFT^S : " vSur la Distribution Geograpbique des Armadillidiens 

 eu Europe." ym Congres Into-. Zool , Leydeu, 1895, p. 357. 



^ Id.: " Catalogue raisonne des Isopodes terrestrCvS de 1 Espagne." Ann. 

 Soc. Espan. Hist. Nat., vol. xxi., 1892.. 



