The geographical distribution of animals, with a study of the relations ...

—;chap, ix.] TABLES OF DISTRIBUTION. 177to warm regions, and becoming very scarce in the temperatezones.Among the Diurnal and Crepuscular Lepidoptera(butterfliesand sphinges) the following families are cosmopolitan :—Satyridse,Nymphalidse, Zygaenidse, Pieridse, Papilionidae, Hesperidae,Lycaenidee, and Sphingidse.Of the Coleoptera almost all, except some of the small andobscure families, are cosmopolitan.Of the terrestrial Mollusca, the Helicidae alone are true cosmopolites.Tables of Distribution of Families and Genera.—Having beenobliged to construct numerous tables of the distribution of thevarious groups for the purposes of the descriptive part of thework, I have thought it well to append the most important ofthem, in a convenient form, to the chapter on each region ; asmuch information will thereby be given, which can only beobtained from existing works at the cost of great labour. Allthese tables are drawn up on a uniform plan, the same genericand family names being used in each ; and all are arranged inthe same systematic order, so as to be readily comparablewith each other. This, although it seems a simple and naturalthing to do, has involved a very great amount of labour, becausehardly two authors use the same names or follow the samearrangement. Hence comparison between them is impossible, tillall their work has been picked to pieces, their synonymy unravelled,their differences accounted for, and the materials recastand this has to be done, not for two or three authors only, butfor the majority of those whose works have been consulted onthe zoology of any part of the globe.Except in the two higher orders—Mammalia and Birdsmaterials do not exist for complete tablesof the genera broughtdown to the present time. We have given therefore, first, acomplete table of all the families of Vertebrata and DiurnalLepidoptera found in each region, showing the sub-regions inwhich they occur, and their range beyond the limits of theregion. Families which are wholly peculiar to the region, or