178 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



than in the following zone, culminating in melanic aberrations ; Eng- 

 lanii is particularly notable in these respects, owing to insularity, and 

 might be considered a subzone also because it lacks several species. 



IV. Zone of Central Europe, including the eastern part of Central 

 France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria; It produces several 

 species quite peculiar to it in Europe. The great Alpine mass in the 

 southern part of this zone may be said to constitute a peculiar sub- 

 zone, which blends with that of Central Europe to the north of its 

 waterparting and with that of Northern Italy to the south of it. 

 These two zones are also found to encroach on one another, in the 

 sense that the races of several species resemble southern ones in certain 

 regions of the Central Europe zone, such as that of the Lake of Geneva 

 and the Valais, whilst, on the contrary, races quite similar to those of 

 the zone of Central Europe spread along the range of the Apennines, 

 at high altitudes, far down into the zone of Peninsular Italy ; there are 

 also entire species which in Central Europe are found also in the 

 plains, but only at these high altitudes in the peninsula of Italy. 



The particular configuration of Southern Europe, divided into three 

 vast peninsulas, and some large islands, is obviously the cause of this 

 part of Europe having to be dealt with as four distinct zones, because 

 their Lepidoptera differ most markedly, although they exhibit many 

 points in common when compared to Central Europe. 



V. Iberic zone : This zone is decidedly connected with Palaearctic 

 Africa in many ways, and stands apart from the rest of Europe on 

 this account ; they have many species in common, which are peculiar 

 to them, and the races of other species are quite similar, or are transi- 

 tional in the Iberic peninsula ; besides this, one finds that many 

 European species produce in this zone their largest and most gaudy 

 races, and that some produce several races within its limits, making it 

 an extremely interesting region. What I propose calling the Eranco- 

 iberic subzone of transition consists in those two curious strips of 

 France, which stand at a right angle to each other, and of which one 

 extends from the Pyrenees, along the western coast, and the other 

 eastwardly, along the southern coast, as far as the Maritime Alps. In 

 both one finds a mixture of some Il)eric species''', and of very southern- 

 looking races, with others more like those of Central Europe. The first 

 strip mentioned reaches a most unexpected latitude, and contrasts with 

 the rest of Central Europe. No doubt the explanation of this, and of 

 the curious angle the two strips form, rests entirely on the direction 

 of the isothermic winter lines, with which they may be seen to coin- 

 cide exactly. The maritime climate in both cases and the Gulf Stream 

 along the western coast, are evidently their cause. 



VI. The Italic : This zone comprises three very distinct subzones : 

 the Northern- Italic,ih.e Peninsular-Italic, and the African-Italic. Within 

 the second of these another little subzone is detectable : the ( 'alabrian. 

 The Northern- Italic subzone has very definite boundaries, because it 



* The Rhopalocera afford the following in the Southern portion : T. ballus, C. 

 avis, N. csculi (Hb.) Obth., L. rohorh, C. lorquinii, H. vielanops, T. ruiiiina, P. 

 feistliinneiii, P . pasifha'e , M. lachesis, M. ni/llins, S. fidiii, which all stop short before 

 or at the Maritime Alps; Agriades liispana, H.S., = arogoitensU, Gerh., which stretches 

 out into a long arm along Liguria, as far as Northern Tuscany ; DI. dejone, which 

 extends locally in the subalpine zone, as far east as South Tyrol ; C. doriis, which 

 reappears locally in Central Italy. 



