﻿212 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  FOURTH 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  MEETING 
  

  

  fliers 
  were 
  found 
  unexpectedly 
  widely 
  distributed. 
  As 
  you 
  know, 
  the 
  

   Plume-moths 
  are 
  my 
  speciality. 
  They 
  are 
  very 
  weak-winged 
  insects, 
  

   but 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  species 
  found 
  in 
  Florida 
  and 
  Central 
  America, 
  in 
  West 
  

   and 
  South 
  Africa, 
  in 
  the 
  islands 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  Ocean, 
  in 
  the 
  Indian 
  

   region 
  generally 
  and 
  in 
  Australia. 
  This 
  insect 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  survival 
  from 
  a 
  

   common 
  fauna, 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  introduced 
  by 
  man, 
  as 
  its 
  food 
  plant 
  is 
  

   a 
  wild 
  one, 
  and 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  distributed 
  by 
  natural 
  causes 
  of 
  which 
  

   probably 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  are 
  upper 
  atmospheric 
  currents. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  White. 
  Before 
  Mr. 
  Fletcher 
  advanced 
  this 
  theory 
  of 
  distribution 
  by 
  atmos- 
  

  

  pheric 
  currents 
  I 
  had 
  hesitated 
  to 
  mention 
  a 
  similar 
  theory 
  of 
  my 
  own, 
  

   as 
  it 
  sounded 
  too 
  far-fetched. 
  My 
  place 
  of 
  residence 
  in 
  Ceylon 
  is 
  situated 
  

   on 
  the 
  South-west 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  range 
  of 
  hills 
  terminating 
  the 
  mountain 
  

   mass 
  of 
  the 
  island 
  in 
  a 
  North-westerly 
  direction. 
  There 
  is 
  therefore 
  no 
  

   high 
  ground 
  struck 
  by. 
  the 
  repeating 
  monsoon 
  after 
  leaving 
  Burma 
  

   until 
  it 
  reaches 
  this 
  range. 
  On 
  several 
  occasions 
  during 
  this 
  period 
  of 
  

   the 
  year 
  I 
  have 
  taken 
  insects 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  Burmese 
  fauna, 
  notice- 
  

   ably 
  when 
  once 
  in 
  January 
  I 
  took 
  at 
  one 
  sweep 
  of 
  the 
  net 
  two 
  conspicuous 
  

   Stratiomyiads^ 
  Allognosta 
  assamensis 
  and 
  Acanthina 
  azurea, 
  neither 
  of 
  

   which 
  I 
  had 
  ever 
  seen 
  in 
  several 
  years 
  previous 
  and 
  continuous 
  collecting 
  

   at 
  this 
  spot. 
  As 
  Wallace 
  has 
  pointed 
  out, 
  if 
  only 
  once 
  in 
  a 
  thousand 
  

   years 
  a 
  specimen 
  is 
  successfully 
  transported 
  by 
  the 
  action 
  of 
  wind 
  over 
  

   stretches 
  of 
  ocean, 
  this 
  is 
  sufficient 
  to 
  account 
  for 
  this 
  continuous 
  

   distribution 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  above 
  instance 
  is 
  possibly 
  such 
  an 
  

   arrival. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Gravely. 
  My 
  work 
  has 
  been 
  done 
  on 
  Arachnids 
  and 
  one 
  group 
  of 
  beetles, 
  not 
  

  

  on 
  Culicidao, 
  but 
  the 
  results 
  are 
  somewhat 
  similar. 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  much 
  

   puzzled 
  by 
  cases 
  in 
  which 
  species 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  crossed 
  the 
  Bay 
  of 
  

   Bengal, 
  and 
  upper 
  air 
  currents 
  may 
  perhaps 
  afford 
  the 
  solution. 
  On 
  

   the 
  other 
  hand, 
  whilst 
  collecting 
  at 
  Barkuda 
  island 
  on 
  the 
  Chilka 
  lake 
  

   recently, 
  I 
  found 
  many 
  species 
  previously 
  only 
  known 
  from 
  Ceylon 
  and 
  

   it 
  occurs 
  to 
  me 
  that 
  many 
  of 
  these 
  cases 
  of 
  discontinuous 
  distribution 
  

   are 
  really 
  due 
  to 
  insufficient 
  collecting 
  in 
  intermediate 
  localities. 
  Many 
  

   lines 
  of 
  inquiry 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  needed 
  for 
  the 
  full 
  elucidation 
  of 
  zoogeogra- 
  

   phical 
  problems. 
  In 
  Passalid 
  beetles 
  distribution 
  is 
  closely 
  correlated 
  

   with 
  phylogeny. 
  Passalids 
  are 
  very 
  occasionally 
  seen 
  at 
  light 
  and 
  

   probably 
  very 
  seldom 
  fly. 
  Consequently 
  their 
  distribution 
  is 
  likely 
  

   to 
  be 
  of 
  a 
  slow 
  and 
  regular 
  type. 
  Among 
  the 
  species 
  of 
  one 
  group 
  

   of 
  the 
  Family 
  occurring 
  from 
  Ceylon 
  to 
  Australia 
  the 
  most 
  distantly 
  

   related 
  species 
  occur 
  on 
  the 
  one 
  hand 
  in 
  Celebes 
  and 
  Borneo 
  (which 
  

   themselves 
  are 
  very 
  different 
  in 
  faunal 
  constitution) 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  

   in 
  the 
  neiglibouring 
  Malacca 
  islands. 
  To 
  these 
  two 
  areas 
  they 
  can 
  be 
  

   traced 
  phylogenetically 
  from 
  Ceylon 
  and 
  Australia 
  respectively, 
  where 
  

  

  