13 



the collections formed by Mr. Pryer. The former published a 

 " Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Japan," but his most important 

 work is " Rhopalocera Nihonica," in which all the species of butter- 

 flies are figured, and the text is in English and Japanese. In Mr. 

 Leech's papers " On the Lepidoptera of Japan and Corea," pub- 

 lished in the "Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London" 

 (1887-9), 3-i^d in his "Butterflies from China, Japan, and Corea" 

 (with excellent coloured plates), the subject is more fully treated. 

 So far, however, there is no special handbook of the Heterocera of 

 the islands, but as there appears to be a desire for such a work it is 

 probable that one will be produced in the very near future. 



As will be seen by looking at a map of the world, the Japanese 

 islands are situated bftween the parallels of 30 and 46 north latitude, 

 whereas our own islands are between the 50th and 60th parallels, so 

 that the most northern part of the Japanese kingdom is, roughly 

 speaking, four degrees further south than Cornwall, while its most 

 southerly extension is twenty degrees nearer the equator. The 

 four principal islands are Nipon, or central ; Yesso, northern ; and 

 Shikoku and Kiushiu, southern. The nearest point to the continent of 

 Asia is in Kiushiu, but this is over 100 miles from Corea, and the 

 next nearest is in Yesso, somewhere about 200 miles from the 

 Manchurian coast. These distances are only given as approximate. 

 The climate of Japan, more particularly in the north, is not very 

 dissimilar to that of England : the difference between the heat of 

 summer and the cold of winter is more marked, I believe, in the main 

 island ; but the mean annual temperature of the northerly portion is 

 similar to that of England, /. e?. 50 degrees Fahr., whilst in the south 

 the mean ranges from 55 to 60 degrees. I understand that in Yesso 

 snow lies on the ground for at least four months in the year. It may 

 also be mentioned that the climate is influenced by the Japan 

 current, a warm ocean stream which is the Eastern equivalent of 

 the Western Gulf Stream. 



The country is largely agricultural, and rice especially is grown wher- 

 ever the nature of the ground admits of cultivation. Mr. Leech, referring 

 to his collecting experience at Nagasaki, in the island of Kiushiu, says 

 that he " found insect life very abundant wherever a piece of accessible 

 uncultivated ground was to be met with. This is only the case on 

 hill-sides too steep for cultivation. It is wonderful to see the way in 

 which the hills are cut into steps, supported by huge banks and 

 walls, and kept constantly irrigated by small streams of water, 

 especially in the south. Where a good piece of forest occurs it is 

 usually impenetrable on account of the dense undergrowth of 

 bamboo, grasses, and ferns, filled with nauseous plants, emitting an 

 effluvium that resembles putrid flesh. This sort of collecting ground 

 occurs nearly all over the main and southern islands of Japan, and 

 when combined with a mixture of tropical sunshine and tropical 

 rains renders an entomologist's pursuit both arduous and un- 

 pleasant" (" Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.," 1887, p. 399). 



