230 Mr. H. T. Stainton's Notes on the 



Three species of rare occurrence in this country must be looked 

 on as stragglers from the Continent ; one of these, Vanessa An- 

 tiopa, has occurred in the south-west of Scotland and at Dunbar. 



Two other species, which formerly occurred in restricted Eng- 

 lish localities, now appear to be extinct there. 



It has been observed (in the Entomologische Zeitung for 1850), 

 by Dr. Speyer, who has devoted considerable time to the sub- 

 ject of the geographical distribution of the Butterflies of Ger- 

 many, that the number of species there decreases from east to 

 west, and from south to north ; but the latter circumstance is 

 partly owing to the configuration of the country, the Alps being 

 particularly rich in Butterflies. 



That Butterflies are not regularly distributed according to lati- 

 tude is evinced by the simple fact that m Lapland, which is situated 

 considerably further north than the Shetland Isles, they have 

 enumerated 77 species, whereas Scotland only boasts of 34. 



Silesia, on the eastern side of Germany, but in the same latitude 

 as Belgium, has 124 species ; about a third more than Belgium, 

 which only numbers 94. Berlin, though further north than Paris, 

 has more species of Butterflies, the numbers being 96 and 89; 

 and the neighbourhood of Berlin is, as any traveller can testify, 

 very monotonous and not particularly likely to yield any extra 

 variety of forms. 



In the same way we find that there are fewer species of Butter- 

 flies in the western counties of England than in the eastern 

 counties. 



Dr. Speyer has suggested that the more continental character 

 of the climate of Eastern Germany, the greater cold in winter 

 and greater heat in summer, was favourable to the development of 

 Butterfly life, and tended therefore to account for the greater 

 number of species there. This theory is certainly corroborated 

 by the distribution of the species with us ; their maximum is 

 reached in those portions of England which have the most conti- 

 nental climate. 



In respect of the species peculiar to moors and mountains it is 

 needful to bear in mind that it is not latitude that affects their 

 distribution, but the position of the mountain chains of sufficient 

 elevation. Thus the London Entomologist travels north to obtain 

 species which an Entomologist at Brussels would seek in the 

 south ; and even in Ireland an Entomologist would need to go 

 southwards to obtain species in Kerry which an Edinburgh Ento- 

 mologist would seek in the Highlands. 



