SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



5. — Li BVl'HEi DAE. Gcmis — Lihyllica. 



6. ArATUKiDAic (In Britain Apalura iris, the 

 purple emperor). Genera — Charaxes, Apalura, 

 Thaieropis. 



7. Nymi'IIALII/ae (In Britain, the white -ad- 

 miral, tortoi.se.shell, peacock, &c. , and fritillaries). 

 Genera — Limmilis, Ncplis, Hypolimnas, Heslina, 

 Eiiripus, Vanessa, Melitaea, Argynnis. 



S. D.WAIDAE. Genus — Danais. 



g. S.-\TYRlDAE(In Britain, marbled white, meadow- 

 brown, heaths, &c. ). Genera — Melanargia, Ercbia, 

 Oecncis, Satyrus, Uphthinia, Pararge, Lethe, Jl/ycale- 

 sis, Melanitis, Epincphele, Coenonyiiipha, Triphysa. 



10. Hesi'ERIDAE (In Britain, the skippers). 

 Genera — Spilothyrus, Syrichlhiis, Nisoiiiades, Dainio, 

 Eiidamits, Ismciic, Plesperia, Cyclopides, Cartero- 

 cephalus. 



All these Families are represented in Europe, and 



In these days ..1 i1k:i|) and easy travelling, it is 

 possible to pursue tlie study of them in a practical 

 manner, which woidd have been ne.\t to impracticable 

 liiit a very few years ago. 



Distribution' of Ge.nera. 



To enter further into detail concerning the dis- 

 tribution of genera in the Palaearctic Region, we may 

 remark that the genus richest in specific forms is 

 Lycaeiia, which contains more than a hundred species 

 besides many constant varieties. It has representatives 



n almost every part of the Region, being represented 

 in Britain by our ten species of "Blues" that form 



he largest generic group of British Butterflies. 



Next in order, as regards numerical strength, is 

 Erehia, of which, while we have only two species in 

 Britain, E. aelhiops (Scotch argus), and E. cassiope 

 (mountain ringlet), more than half of the Palaearctic 

 species occur in the mountains of Europe, the rest 



Jtl'BSi.N 



:a. c"-":^ 



jjii 



TROPIC orjAifcca 



Map of the Palaearctic Region, 

 Showing Dr. Lang's Sub-regions. 



all but Libytheidae in England (if we accept Danais 

 erippus as a British species). Of the sixty-one 

 genera enumerated above, forty are represented in 

 Europe, and twenty-sevn in England. Of the 

 remaining twenty-one genera, which are not repre- 

 sented in Europe, only six are exclusively Palaearctic, 

 the remainder resulting from the extension into our 

 Territory of genera properly belonging to other 

 Regions. As examples of these we may cite Idiiiais, 

 Callidryas and lolaiis in Syria, genera properly 

 belonging to the African Region ; Euripns, Lethe, 

 Mycalesis, Eudainus, etc. , to Corea ; Isuiene, Dainio 

 and Sericinus to the Amur. To these we may add 

 the existence of a single species in Europe of the 

 otherwise African genus Charaxes. 



It may be gathered from the above remarks that 

 the forms of Rhopalocera with which collectors in 

 our own and adjacent countries aie familiar, are for 

 the most part closely allied to what we may expect to 

 find over a ^■ast portion of the surface of the clobe. 



being furnished by the mountains of Central Asia and 

 Siberia, and the elevated parts of Turkestan and the 

 Amur. Satyrus is represented by about fifty species, 

 but does not extend further eastward than the Altai. 



Next, as regards numbers, follow the genera Colias 

 and Arg)innis, which from this point of view are 

 about equal. Species of these two genera have been 

 taken between 78" and 83° N. lat., as far north 

 as naturalists have explored. They are well repre- 

 sented in Europe, and are distributed throughout the 

 whole region, even to the Canaries. The deserts 

 and mountains of Central Asia and Siberia, afford 

 many beautiful species of Colias, which are absent 

 from Europe. 



Nearly equal to these last in numbers is the genus 

 Melitaea (M. aurinia, the greasy-fritillary, being a 

 familiar British species). This genus is distributed 

 more or less throughout the Region, from Scandinavia 

 and Northern Siberia, to North Africa. Outside the 

 Palaearctic Region there are no species of Melitaea, 



B 2 



