Carpunrer—The Geographical Distribution of Dragonflies. 451 
Canadian sub-region of the Holarctic is the headquarters of the 
genus, possessing ten of the thirty-six species. Though five 
species invade the Sonoran Region they do not range far to the 
south, none reaching Texas or Florida, and the genus is evidently 
to be reckoned as belonging to the Holarctic fauna. Twelve 
species are found in the old world sub-regions of the Holarctic; 
of these none enter the Mediterranean district. Three occur in 
Siberia, one in the Amur, and three in Japan. ‘Then coming 
south from Japan into the tropics, a single species is known from 
the Philippines, while at the antipodes, Australia has two species, 
and New Zealand three. In the Neotropical Region two species 
are found; one in Chili and one in Brazil (Para). The gaps in 
the range of the genus are very remarkable, and the whole distri- 
bution strikingly recalls that of the northern plants which extend 
to Chili and New Zealand, so familiar to students of biological 
geography through the classical works of Hooker and Wallace.* 
Epophthalmia is divided between the Sonoran and Oriental 
Regions, and the Manchurian sub-region of the Holarctic. It 
seems likely that immigration between the American and Asiatic 
continents took place at a former warm period by a land-connection 
to the north of the Pacific, as must have been the case with many 
other groups of animals. 
Macromia also has the bulk of its species in the Sonoran and 
Oriental Regions, but it extends to Ethiopian Africa, and has one 
species recorded from Southern France, while no species is known 
from Japan. 
The Corduliinze are the only sub-family of dragonflies which 
eannot be traced back to the Secondary Period. Only two fossil 
species are known—one Hocene and one Oligocene, both referred 
to the genus Cordulia. 'The Corduliine are closely allied to the 
Libelluline, from which they are not marked off by very clear 
structural characters, and their distribution, with so many genera 
peculiar to various regions, in conjunction with their comparatively 
recent geological age and present scarcity, suggests that they may 
have arisen from Libelluline ancestors independently in different 
parts of the world, and not attained any great success in the 
struggle for life. 
‘A. R. Wallace: ‘Island Life.”’ 2nd edition. London, 1892 (p. 509, &e.). 
