Island Life; Or, The Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras

45. Lita fraternella. Widely scattered (1834). Larva feeds on shoots of Stellaria uliginosa in spring.

46. L. blandulella. Kent.

47. Anacampsis sircomella. North and West England (1854). Perhaps a melanic variety of the more widely spread A. tæniolella.

48. A. immaculatella. West Wickham (1834). Unique! A distinct species.

49. *Œcophora woodiella?

50. Glyphipteryx cladiella. Eastern Counties (1859). Abundant.

51. G. schœnicolella. In several localities (1859).

52. Gracilaria stramineella. (1850). On birch. Perhaps a local form of G. elongella, found on alder.

53. Ornix loganella. Scotland (1848). Abundant, and a distinct species.

54. O. devoniella. In Devonshire (1854). Unique!

55. Coleophora saturatella. South of England (1850). Abundant on broom.

56. C. inflatæ. South and East of England. On Silene inflata. ? continental.

57. C. squamosella. Surrey (1856). Very rare, but an obscure species.

58. C. salinella. On Sea-coast (1859). Abundant.

59. *C. potentillæ. South of England.

60. *C. adjunctella. Essex salt marshes. ? Lancashire (1882).

61. *C. limoniella. Isle of Wight. Feeds on Statice limonium.

62. Elachista flavicomella. Dublin (1856). Excessively rare, two specimens only known.

63. *E. scirpi. Wales and Sussex. Salt marshes.

64. E. consortella. Scotland (1854). A doubtful species.

65. E. megerlella. Widely distributed (1854). Common. Larva feeds in grass during winter and early spring.

66. E. obliquella. Near London (1854). Unique!

67. E. triseriatella. South of England (1854). Very local; an obscure species.

68. *Tinagma betulæ. East Dorset (1891).

69. Lithocolletis nigrescentella. Northumberland (1850). Rare; a dark form of L. Bremiella, which is widely distributed.

70. *L. anderidæ. Sussex. Dorset (1886).

71. L. irradiella. North Britain (1854). A northern form of the more southern and wide-spread L. lautella.

72. L. triguttella. Sanderstead, near Croydon (1848). Unique! very peculiar.

73. L. ulicicolella. In a few wide-spread localities (1854). A peculiar form.

74. L. caledoniella. North Britain (1854). A local variety of the more widespread L. corylifoliella.

75. L. dunningiella. North of England (1852). A somewhat doubtful species.

76. Bucculatrix demaryella. Widely distributed (1848). Rather common.

77. Trifurcula squamatella. South of England (1854). A doubtful species.

78. Nepticula ignobiliella. Widely scattered (1854). On hawthorn, not common. ? on continent.

79. N. poterii. South of England (1858). Bred from Larvæ in Poterium sanguisorba.

80. N. quinquella. South of England (1848). On oak leaves, very local. ? continental.

81. N. apicella. Local (1854). Probably confused with allied species on the continent.

82. N. headleyella. Local (1854). A rare species.

83. *N. hodgkinsoni. Lancashire.

84. *N. woolhopiella. Herefordshire.

85. *N. serella. Westmoreland and S. England.

86. *N. auromarginella. Dorset (1890).

87. *Micropteryx sangii. (1891).

88. *M. salopiella.

Pterophorina

89. Agdistis bennetti. East coast. I. of Wight (1840). Common on Statice limonium.

We have here a list of eighty-nine species, which, according to the best authorities, are, in the present state of our knowledge, peculiar to Britain. It is a curious fact that no less than fifty of these have been described more than twenty-five years; and as during all that time they have not been recognised on the continent, notwithstanding that good coloured figures exist of almost all of them, it seems highly probable that many of them are really confined to our island. At the same time we must not apply this argument too rigidly, for the very day before my visit to Mr. Stainton he had received a letter from Professor Zeller announcing the discovery on the continent of a species of our last family, Pterophorina, which for more than forty years had been considered to be exclusively British. This insect, Platyptilia similidactyla (Pterophorus isodactylus, Stainton's Manual), had been taken rarely in the extreme north and south of our islands—Teignmouth and Orkney, a fact which seemed somewhat indicative of its being a straggler. Again, seven of the species are unique, that is, have only been captured once; and it may be supposed that, as they are so rare as to have been found only once in England, they may be all equally rare and not yet found on the continent. But this is hardly in accordance with the laws of distribution. Widely scattered species are generally abundant in some localities; while, when a species is on the point of extinction, it must for a time be very rare in the single locality where it last maintains itself. It is then more probable that some of these unique species represent such as are almost extinct, than that they have a wide range and are equally rare everywhere; and the peculiarity of our insular climate, combined with our varied soil and vegetation, offer conditions which may favour the survival of some species with us after they have become extinct on the continent.

Of the sixty-nine species recorded in my first edition fourteen have been since discovered on the continent, while no less than twenty-two species and eleven varieties have been added to the list. As we can hardly suppose continental entomologists to be less thorough collectors than ourselves, it ought to be more and more difficult to find any insects which are unknown on the continent if all ours really exist there; and the fact that the list of apparently peculiar British species is an increasing one renders it probable that many of them are not only apparently but really so. Both general considerations dependent on the known laws of distribution, and the peculiar habits, conspicuous appearance, and restricted range, of many of our species, alike indicate that some considerable proportion of them will remain permanently as peculiar British species.

We will now pass on to the Coleoptera, or beetles, an order which has been of late years energetically collected and carefully studied by British entomologists.

List of the Species and Varieties of Beetles which, so far as at present known, are confined to the British Islands. Those added since the first edition are marked with an asterisk.