VORKSHIRK NATI'RATJSTS' I'NION. 
These three gr()ii])s Mr. Sharp, following Prof. Forhes, derives from 
Arctic and other areas, i)utas I have already shown the improbability 
of invasion from these weaker and hypothetical sources, and the 
distribution of the groups being ([uite in harmony with that of other 
forms of life, I am compelled to regard eacli of these groups as repre- 
senting successive waves of life from North-Central l']urope, the active 
evcjlutionary area from which Mr. Shar]) himself derives the latest 
and most dominant invad(M-s. 
In Lepii)<>i>thr.\, although the relationship of phylogeny and 
distri})ution have not yet been investigated, yet from the available 
data, we are able to arrive at the same general conclusions as de- 
monstrated by other forms of life, as Palwomicra, the most archaic 
Lepidopteron known, is found only in New Zealand, the most primitive 
region of the earth, while the most dominant genera are those of 
the northern hemisphere : the })recise accord of these acknowledged 
facts with those furnished by all well-studied groups gives us autliority 
to expect a similar concordance in the details when investigated. 
The erudition and immense labour involved in the elaboration of 
the masterly scheme of classification formulate*! by Mr. Meyrick and 
based on wing neuration will not have yielded its full fruits until the 
phylogenetic dispersal of life lias been elucidated, but from evidence 
available it is seen that the life of the PaLxarctic region is of the most 
advanced type and the most dominant in the world, and that New 
Zealand, perhaps the weakest and most primitive region on the globe,, 
also harbours Palwomicrd, which stands at the very base of the 
Lepidopterous series, in close affinity to the Trichoptevd, and close 
to the point of divergence of the two groui)s, while Patagonia, which 
contains the most lowly and primitive life has a Lepidopterous fauna 
c[uite in accord, as ^[r. Meyrick affirms it to have much affinity 
with that of New Zealand. 
Mr. Dadd, of Berlin, furnishes evidence of the power of North 
Central Euroi)e to initiate specific difference, affirming on the authority 
of Dr. Dietze that what are known as the differential characters of 
Eupifhecid .<nrcenfiiri(it(t and E. suhfalvatd are in Germany only 
known in the initiatory stage, but in England according to Mr. Prout 
these differences have ac(juired distinctly specific value. 
The genus V<i)tes.<a is especially characteristic of the Northern 
Hemisphere and in the opinion of Dr. D. Sharp its members are the 
most dominant and advanced butterflies in the world, capable of 
prospering under the most varied and adverse conditions, and this 
view is not impugned but supported by Mr. Meyrick's morphological 
arrangement of the group. The L'lbytheides are a generalized and 
ancient group of Vanessoid appearance but exhibiting affinities and 
relationships to other groups, and are found in most warm and 
temj)erate c(jntinental regions as well as in the Mauritius and Antilles, 
and they are apparently the stem from which Va?iess(t and other 
gi-oups may have been evolved. 
