GEOGRAPHICAL ZOOLOGY. 
[PART IV. 
48 G 
dossil Butterflies, apparently of existing genera, occur in the 
Miocene and Eocene formations, and an extinct form in the 
Lower Oolite ; but these cannot be held to give any adequate 
idea of the antiquity of so highly specialised a group, which, in 
all probability, dates back to Paleeozoic times, since one of the 
Bombycidae, — a group almost as highly-organised — has been 
discovered in the coal formation of Belgium. (See Vol. I. p. 168.) 
Order— COLEOPTERA. 
Geodephaga, or Carnivorous Ground Beetles. 
The Geodephaga consist of two families, Cicindelidae and 
Carabidee, differing in their form and habits no less than in their 
numbers and distribution. The former, comprising about 800 
species, are far more abundant and varied in Tropical regions ; 
the latter, more than ten times as numerous, are highly charac- 
teristic of the North Temperate zone, where fully half of all the 
known species occur. 
CICINDELIDAE. (35 Genera, 803 Species.) 
The Cicindelidae, or Tiger Beetles, are a moderately extensive 
group, spread oVer the whole globe, but much more abundant 
in tropical than in temperate or cold countries. More than half 
of the species (418) belong to the single genus Cicindela, the 
only one which is cosmopolitan. The other large genera are, — 
Collyris (81 sp.), wholly Oriental ; Odontockila (57 sp.), South 
American, with species in Java and Celebes; Tdracha (46 sp.), 
mostly South American, but with species in South Europe, 
North America, and Australia; Tricondyla (31 sp.), characteristic 
of the Oriental region, but extending eastward to New Guinea ; 
Ctenostoma (26 sp.), wholly Neotropical; I)romica (24 sp.), 
wholly African, south of Lake Ngami and Mozambique ; Therates 
(18 sp.), wholly Malayan, from Singapore to New Guinea. 
The genera are distributed in the several regions as follows : — 
the Nearetic region has 5 genera, 3 of which are peculiar to it ; the 
