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British Species of Lepidoptera occurring in Japan. 



By Richard South. {Read April itfh, 1898.) 



" When an Englishman travels by the nearest sea route from 

 Great Britain to Northern Japan he passes by countries very unlike 

 his own, both in aspect and natural productions. The sunny isles 

 of the Mediterranean, the sands and date palms of Egypt, the arid 

 rocks of Aden, the cocoa groves of Ceylon, the tiger-haunted jungles 

 of Malacca and Singapore, the fertile plains and volcanic peaks of 

 Luzon, the forest-clad mountains of Formosa, and the bare hills of 

 China pass successively in review ; till, after a circuitous voyage of 

 thirteen thousand miles, he finds himself at Hakodate in Japan. He 

 is now separated from his starting-point by the whole width of 

 Europe and Northern Asia, by an almost endless succession of 

 plains and mountains, arid deserts or icy plateaux ; yet when he 

 visits the interior of the country he sees so many familiar natural 

 objects that he can hardly help fancying he is close to his home. 

 He finds the woods and fields tenanted by tits, hedge-sparrows, 

 wrens, wagtails, larks, redbreasts, thrushes, buntings, and house- 

 sparrows ; some absolutely identical with our own feathered friends, 

 others so closely resembling them that it requires a practical orni- 

 thologist to tell the difference. If he is fond of insects he notices 

 many butterflies and a host of beetles, which, though on close 

 examination they are found to be distinct from ours, are yet of the 

 same general aspect, and seem just what might be expected in any 

 part of Europe. There are also, of course, many birds and insects 

 which are quite new and peculiar, but these are by no means so 

 numerous or conspicuous as to remove the general impression of a 

 wonderful resemblance between the productions of such remote 

 islands as Britain and Yesso." 



Thus wrote Wallace in " Island Life " some eighteen years ago, 

 and to-day his remarks, especially so far as they concern insects, 

 apply with even greater force, as our knowledge of the insect fauna 

 of Japan is now more complete. Entomologists have ascertained 

 that not only do a large number of European genera of Lepidoptera 

 occur in the islands, but that very many species are exactly identical 

 with those found in Britain ; whilst others are but so slightly dif- 

 ferent that they can only be regarded as geographical races or 

 varieties. 



Our present knowledge of Japanese Lepidoptera is largely due to the 

 active labours of the late Mr. Henry Fryer, who resided for several 

 years in Japan, and to Mr. John Henry Leech, who, in addition to a 

 vast amount of material obtained by himself in the country, acquired 



