KHOPALOCEEA. 
25 
their sliglitly modified descendants. But there is no case of the kind 
so striking as that of New Zealand, which, though 1200 miles distant 
from Australia, lies wholly in temperate latitudes (between 33° and 
53° S.), is in extreme length 1 100 miles, and has an area not much 
less than that of Great Britain and Ireland, but has not hitherto 
yielded more than sixteen species, of which, as Mr. A. G. Butler points 
out,^ six are probably of Australian origin, and one is a recent intro- 
duction from America. This extraordinary scarcity is the more appa- 
rent when it is remembered that the British Isles, one of the very 
poorest countries in Europe for butterflies, have sixty-three undoubt- 
edly native species. 
The total number of Rhopalocera now known to science must be 
between ten and eleven thousand. Mr. W. F. Kirby's Synonymic Cata- 
logue^ published in 1871, included about 7700 species, and his Sup- 
plement of 1877 enumerated nearly 1800 additional forms brought 
to light during the intervening six years, making together about 
9500 species. Taking the five families in the order of their respective 
numbers, it is found they stand as follows, viz.: — i. Nymjphalidce, 
4040; 2. Lyccenidce^ 1550; 3. Hespcridce^ 1550; 4. Fapilionidce, 
1400; 5. Urycinidce, 900. The continual discovery of new species 
is not likely to change this order of numerical relation between the 
families ; but almost certainly the ranks of the smaller members of 
the Lyccenidm and Hesperidm will be largely augmented, and the great 
disparity in numbers between those families and the Nymphalidm 
proportionately reduced. When the twelve Sub-Families are placed 
according to the number of species they respectively contain (the Lycm- 
nidce and Hesperidm are excluded from this series, not being divided 
into Sub-Families), they stand thus, viz. : — 
1. I^ymphalinse, 
2. Satyrinse, 
3. Pieringe, 
4. Danainse, 
5. Erycininse, 
6. Papilioninse, 
1980 
7- 
Nenieobiinse, 
1040 
8. 
Helicon inse, 
900 
9- 
Acrseinge, 
680 
10. 
Eurygoninse, 
650 
II. 
Brassolinse 
510 
12. 
Libythseinse, 
170 
140 
90 
70 
II 
The Ethiopian Region, of which extra-tropical Southern Africa 
constitutes a characteristic zoological province or " Sub-Region," has 
all the families and eight of the twelve sub-families, the four of 
the latter that are not represented being the Heliconinm and Brassolinm 
among the Nym^phalidcc, and the JErycinincc and EurygonincB among 
the Urycinidce. South Africa is poorer by one sub-family than the 
Region, having hitherto yielded no representative of the Nemeohiinm. 
4. Differences Presented by the Sexes. 
With very few exceptions, the male is smaller than the female, and 
his wings are comparatively narrower, the fore-wings often being more 
1 Trans. Wellington Philos. Soc, 1878, p. 263. 
