470 



GEOGRAPHICAL ZOOLOGY. 



[part IV. 



Order— LEPIDOPTERA. 



Sub-order — Lepidoptera Bhopalocera, or Butterflies. 

 Family 1.— DANAID^E. (24 Genera, 530 Species.) 



Genekal Distribution. 



The Danaidse are now held to comprehend, not only the whole 

 of the group so named by Doubleday, but a large portion of the 

 Heliconidpe of that author. Their range is thus extended over the 

 whole of the tropical regions. A few species spread north- 

 wards into the Paltearctic and Nearctic regions, but these are 

 only stragglers, and hardly diminish the exclusively tropical cha- 

 racter of the group. The more remarkable genera are, — Hestia 

 (10 sp.), and Ideopsis (6 sp.), confined to the Malayan and 

 Moluccan districts ; Danais (50 sp.), which has the range of the 

 whole family ; Euplcea (140 sp.), confined to the Oriental and 

 Australian regions, but especially abundant in the Malayan and 

 Moluccan districts ; Hamadryas (4 sp.), Australian region only. 

 The remaining genera constitute the Danaioid Heliconidse, and 

 are strictly confined to Tropical America, except a few species 

 which extend into the southern parts of the Nearctic region. 

 The chief of these genera are : — 



Ithomia (160 sp.), Melincea (18 sp.), Napeogenes (20 sp.), Me- 

 cJianitis (4 sp.), Geratina (32 sp.), Dirccnna (10 sp.), and Lycorea 

 (4 sp.). Florida, Louisiana, and Southern California, mark the 

 northern extent of these insects. 



