THE NON-BRITISH INSECTS OF THE SARNIAN 



ISLANDS. 



BY Mil. ^y. A. LUFF, F.E.S. 



My object in writing this paper is to give a brief account of 

 those insects which, although occurring in these islands, are 

 not found in Great Britain, and are therefore not included in 

 the British list. Being situated so near to the French coast 

 we would expect to find in them a fcAv non-British species, 

 and in this we are not disappointed, as no less than 49 such 

 species, including spiders, have been discovered. It is verj 

 interesting to note that several of these species do not occur 

 on the Continent nearly so far north as Guernsey. 



Jersey, from its larger size and closer proximity to the 

 mainland, will no doubt, when systematically worked, be found 

 to possess many more of these non-British insects. In one 

 sub-order alone, the Acideate-Hynienoptera, Mr. E. Saunders, 

 F.L.S., has recorded eighteen such species. 



Almost as interesting is the absence of some of the 

 commonest British insects, as for instance Timarcha IcBviyata^ 

 a beetle of universal occurrence in England, but which is not 

 found in any of the islands except Alderney, and even there 

 it is extremely rare, and appears to be dying out. That 

 common British butterfly, Ccenouymplia painphilas^ is absent 

 from Guernsey but extremely common in all the other islands. 

 Argynnis aylaia is abundant in S:irk, yet entirely wanting in 

 Guernsey. Cetoaiu aurata^ the beautiful Rose-Chafer, is 

 common in Sark, but is not to be found either in Guernsey 

 or Alderney. Three of the Skipper Butterflies are found in 

 ♦Jersey, but none are to be met with in any of the other 

 islands. The Glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca) is also com- 

 mon in Jersey, and absent from all the other islands. 



From the above few remarks it will be seen that the 

 derivation and distribution of the fauna of the Channel 

 Islands if carefully worked out would form the subject of a 

 very interesting and valuable paper. 



