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I\Iy endeavours to find constant differences between P. aeijeus Don., onnenus 

 Gudr., adrastios Feld., pandioyi Wall., and othello Grose Smith did not meet with 

 success ; the distinguisliing characters, as they are pointed out by Wallace, Felder, 

 and Grose Smith, are not of specific value, since they do not apply to all the specimens 

 from the respective localities, and appear also in specimens from other places. Four 

 local races are, however, pretty well distinguishable, though it is often difficult and 

 even impossible to say to which race a specimen without locality belongs : — 



(rt) : P. fcegeus Don. from Australia and the islands between Queensland and 



New Guinea (occurring also in British New Guinea?) ; 

 (b): P. aegem ormcnus Gue'r. from New Guinea and the adjacent islands; 



Waigeu ; Key ; Aru ; Woodlark (?) ; 

 (c) : P. aegeus adrastus Feld. from the Banda Islands ; 

 (d): P. aegeus bismarckianus subsp. nov. from New Britain. 

 ^^'allaee's P. pandion is not separable subspecifically from P. aegeas 07-menus 

 Guer. ; Ijoth these forms flying together, and being connected by every intergraduate. 

 pandimi must be treated as a mere aberration. 



Grose Smith's P. othello is based on an extreme male of ali. pandion, and on two 

 feiwdes, belonging to two different forms, which were obtained by Mr. W. Doherty 

 on the island of Biak, Geelvink Bay; though one of the/«7yirt/es {^ -ah. jjohjdorinus 

 Haase) is, indeed, aberrant in having the submarginal red spots on the u])perside of 

 the hindwings very much reduced in size and the white patches on the forewings 

 much purer white, I cannot believe that the island of Biak, which is so close to the 

 main islands of New Guinea, is inhabited by a race of its own; the male and the 

 aecoTiA female ( ? -ab. amanga Boisd.j do not differ from certain New (f uinea specimens. 

 Montrouzier's P. ormenus, from ^\'oodlark Island, may be different from P. aegeus 

 ormentis Guer. ; but as Montrouzier's description (of the females) is not sufficient to 

 enable one to tell any difference between the Woodlark and the New Guinea Papilio. 

 I think it best to put the Woodlark Papilio as a query synonym to P. aegeus ormeiias 

 Guer. 



P. gamtn-isius Cram., P. lydeus Feld., and P. inopinatus Butl. are close relatives 

 of P. aegeus Don., but are constantly different, and liave therefore to stand as distinct 

 species. These species are monomorpbic in either sex, and so is P. aegeus Don. and 

 P. aegeus adrastus Feld., while P. aegeus ormenus (ludr. is polymorpliic. This 

 highly interesting, liut now well-known fact, that a species is so very variable in one 

 part of its range, whereas it is comparatively constant in others, is exemplified by 

 many other Papilios, of which I mention here a few :— 



Papilla clytia, \j., which is jiolymorpic in India, is raonouiorphic on the Andaman 

 Islands, Palawan, and the Philippines; its nearest ally (P. echidna De Haau) is also 

 monomoriihic. In P. niemno^n L. and agenor L. the female is remarkably jjoly- 

 morphic; in the Loo Choo Islands, however, occurs only one form of this sex. The 

 fetnale of P. rumanzovius Eschsch. is polymorpliic on the Philippines, monomori)hic 

 on Sangir I.sland ; etc. 



("J : P. aegeus Don., forma typ. [J, ? , metam.]. 



<?. The subapical white band on the forewings is always present and ratlier 

 constant in form. The length of the costal [lortion of the white liand of the hind- 

 wings is variable ; this band enters sometimes the apex of the cell, in none of my 

 specimens it extends beyond the lower median vein ; the anal vermilion spot is 

 always present above and below. 



