THE ENTOMOLOGIST. Q29 



such plants as occur are not, so far as Dr. Spruce has 

 observed, aromatic ; and, as plants in such situations can 

 hardly depend on insect visits for their fertilisation, the fact 

 is comparable with that of the flora of New Zealand, and 

 would seem to imply some relation between the two 

 phenomena, though what it exactly is cannot yet be 

 determined. 



I trust 1 have now been able to show you that there are 

 a number of curious problems, lying as it were on the 

 outskirts of biological inquiry, which well merit attention, 

 and which may lead to valuable results. But these problems 

 are, as you see, for the most part connected with questions of 

 locality, and require full and accurate knowledge of the 

 productions of a number of small islands and other limited 

 areas, and the means of comparing them the one with the 

 other. To make such comparisons is, however, now quite 

 impossible. No museum contains any fair representation of 

 the productions of these localities ; and such specimens as 

 do exist, being scattered through the general collection, are 

 almost useless for this special purpose. If, then, we are to 

 make any progress in this inquiry, it is absolutely essential 

 that some collectors should begin to arrange their cabinets 

 primarily on a geographical basis, keeping together the 

 productions of every island or group of islands, and of such 

 divisions of each continent as are found to possess any 

 special or characteristic fauna or flora. We shall then be 

 sure to detect many unsuspected relations between the 

 animals and plants of certain localities; and we shall become 

 much better acquainted with those complex reactions 

 between the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and between 

 the organic world and the inorganic, which have almost 

 certainly played an important part in determining many 

 of the most conspicuous features of living things. 



Alfred Russel Wallace, 



Entomological Notes, Captures, Sfc. 



Vanessa Antiopa at Lea Bridge Marshes. — I had the good 



fortune to capture a splendid female specimen of V. Antiopa 



on the 27th August ; it appeared as though only just emerged 



from pupa. It was on a willow tree, sucking the sugar left 



