SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



BUTTERFLIES OF THE PALAEARCTIC REGION. 



By HicNRV Charles Lang, M.D., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., LoxD. 



'T'lIK Rev. H, C. Lang, M.D., has been good 

 ■*■ enough to undertake a series of articles for 

 SciKN'CE Gossip, upon the Butterflies of the Palae- 

 arctic Region. Dr. Lang's worl; on the Butterflies 

 of Europe, issued with coloured plates in 1SS4, is well- 

 known to every entomologist studying this beautiful 

 group of insects. The species contained in that work 

 will be revised and included herein, the whole 

 forming a manual of Palaearctic Butterflies, with 

 every known species fully described. There will be 

 frequent illustrations, especially of species either 

 hitherto unfigured, or not easily accessible. These 

 figures will be from authentic specimens in Dr. Lang's 

 almost complete collection. The subject, at our 



Introduction. 



The Butterflies or Rhopalocera which form a 

 natural section of the great order Lepidoptera will no 

 doubt always be popular with entomologists. .Almost 

 annually some work appears entirely devoted to this 

 group, and it seems that even our British Butterflies 

 are not yet likely to cease from becoming the subjects 

 of new monographs. 



English entomologists are, however, beginning to 

 recognise that our country is but a small corner of 

 Europe, " The nook-shotten Isle of Albion." Further, 

 that Europe itself is only a portion of one of the 

 great Biological divisions of the world, Icnown to 



DiGNE IN Provence, 

 One 0/ the best Localities in Europe for Bittterjiies. 



request, is treated popularly, though scientifically ; 

 as it is intended in addition to students or collectors, 

 for the use of the increasing number of English- 

 speaking persons, who visit the Continent of Europe. 

 Now that the trans-Siberian railway is progressing 

 in construction, these travels will be, in the near 

 future, extended eastward. As no popular manual of 

 the Palaearctic Butterflies e.\ists, we have induced 

 Dr. Lang to include the Asiatic portion of his work. 



The author desires to enter into communication 

 with those entomologists who may visit, and collect 

 these insects in little frequented parts occurring on 

 the accompanying map, with a view of recording the 

 accurate distribution of new species, rare or local 

 forms. Dr. Lang's address is All Saints Vicarage, 

 Southend-on-Sea, Essex, These articles are the copy- 

 right of the author and Science-Gossip. — [Editor.] 

 June, 1899.— No. 61, Vol. VI. 



naturalists as the Palaearctic Region. Our small 

 array of si.xty or so butterflies will serve as an indica- 

 tion of the general type of what we may expect to 

 meet with on the Continent. The European species 

 again afibrd us an idea of the general aspect of the 

 rhopalocerous fauna of the whole region. 

 The Palaearctic Region. 

 I am often asked, "What is the Palaearctic 

 Region?" This is not a question that is easy to 

 answer in terms of general application. We may 

 define it zoologically as the portion of the Old World 

 whose fauna bears traces of having come under the 

 influence of the Glacial Period. Nevertheless, in 

 different groups of animals the arrangement of the 

 region requires a certain amount of modification. A 

 distribution of territory that would be suitable to 

 mammalia, or to birds, would not necessarily apply 



