CHAP. XIV.] 
THE NEOTROPICAL REGION. 
15 
American species not only surpass all others in size and beauty, but 
some of them are so gorgeous on the under surface of their 
wings, as to exceed almost all the combinations of metallic tints 
we meet with in nature. The last family, Hesperkhe, is also 
wonderfully developed here, the species being excessively nu- 
merous, while some of them redeem the character of this generally 
sober family, by their rich and elegant coloration. 
In the only other group of Lepidoptera we can here notice, 
the Sphingina, the Neotropical region possesses some peculiar 
forms. The magnificent diurnal butterfly-like moths, Urania , 
are the most remarkable ; and they are rendered more interesting 
by the occurrence of a species closely resembling them in 
Madagascar. Another family of day-flying moths, the Castniidm, 
is almost equally divided between the Neotropical and Australian 
regions, although the genera are more numerous in the latter. 
The American Castnias are large, thick-bodied insects, with a 
coarse scaly surface and rich dull colours ; differing widely from 
the glossy and gaily coloured Agaristas, which are typical of the 
family in the East. 
Coleojptera. — This is so vast a subject that, as in the case of the 
regions already treated, we must confine our attention to a few of 
the more important and best known families as representatives 
of the entire order. 
CicindelidEe. — We find here examples of 15 out of the 35 genera 
of these insects ; and 10 of these genera are peculiar. The most 
important are Oxychila, (11 sp.), Hiresia (14 sp.), and Ctenostoma 
(26 sp.). Odontochila (57 sp.) is the most abundant and cha- 
racteristic of all, but is not wholly peculiar, there being a species 
in the Malay archipelago. Tetracha, another large genus, has 
species in Australia and a few in North America and Europe. 
The small genus Peridexia is divided between Brazil and Mada- 
gascar, — a somewhat similar distribution to that of Urania noticed 
above. One genus, Agrius , is confined to the southern extremity 
of the continent. 
Carabidse. — Besides a considerable number of cosmopolitan 
or wide-spread genera, this family is represented by more than 
100 genera which are peculiar to the Neotropical region. The 
