RHOPALOCERA MALA YA NA . 



325 



Subgenus OllNITflOPTEEA. 



OniWwpWm, Boisduval, Voy. Astr. Ltp. p. 33 (1832); Sp. (leii. i. p. 173 (1B3G); Doul.l. Geu. Diurn. Lep. 



p. 3 (1846); Wall. Traus. Liuu. Soc. vol. xxv. p. 35 (1805) ; Moore, Lep. Ceyl. vol. i. p. 15-1 (1881). 

 Ainphrisim, Swaius. Zool. Illustr. ser. 2, t. 98 (1832-3). 

 Troides, Hiibn. Verz. bek. Sclimett. p. 87 (1810). 

 PachlioptiTti (part), Eeak. Proc. Entom. Soc. Phihul. iii. p. 50-} (18G4). 



Anterior wings large, elongate and subtriangular, nurvower in the male than in tlie female. Co.stal 

 nervure extending to abont tbree-fourtlis of costal margin ; first subcostal nerviile emitted at about middle of 

 cell ; second either at about one-fourth before end of cell, or at about one-third before cell as in O. broohmwi, 

 third emitted at about end of cell and terminating at apex of wing, fourth and iifth bifurcating at either 

 less than one-half the distance between end of cell and outer margin, or at about one-fourth the distance, 

 as in 0. hrookcana ; cell extending beyond half the length of wing ; upper disco-cellular nervule straight, 

 shorter than the lower, which is somewhat obliquely concave ; upper discoidal nervule emitted at junction of 

 disco-cellular nervules, lower discoidal from extreme end of cell and having the appearance of a fourth median 

 nervule ; lower median nervule emitted either at about middle of cell or before middle as in O. hrookcnna, 

 second median nervule nearer lower than upper, which is emitted before the end of cell at more than half 

 the distance between it and the second median nervule ; submedian nervure slightly curved and with a 

 short basal internal nervule. Posterior wings small and subovate, costal margin convexly rounded, 

 posterior margin convex and scalloped, abdominal margin folded. Precostal nervure with two branches, 

 the lower most united with the costal nervure, which does not quite reach the apex of wing ; first sul)costal 

 nervule emitted at about one-third before end of cell (at about one-half in 0. hruokciuM) ; upper disco- 

 cellular nervule oblique, longer than the second ; discoidal nervule emitted near extreme end of cell ; upper 

 median nervule emitted a short distance befoi-e end of cell, second nearer upper than lower, submedian 

 nervure recurved. Male with the abdomen provided with two largo anal valves. 



The larvie, as described by Mr. Moore,* are " elongated, thick, slightly attenuated at both ends, with 

 dorsal and lateral rows of rather long fleshy tubercles." 



I have here treated Oniithoptera as a subgenus — firstly, iu order to use that well-kuowu 

 name, and secondly, because there is no valid character or characters to separate it generically 

 from Papilio. Doubleday, seeing these difficulties, sought the divisional element in the larvae, 

 which he stated differed " iu having an external forked sheath for the prothoracic teutacula."t 

 This, however, has been disproved by Mr. Wallace, who found that in (). puseiduu the larva has 

 no " external sheath." Mr, Wallace therefore relied on a character found in the perfect insect, 

 viz., the " anal valves in the male." I But Mr. P. H. Gosse has found a very similar structure 

 in some species of Papilio, § and Keakirt proposed a new genus — Atrophancura — for a species of 

 Papilio, \\ which he found to be intermediate between Papilio and Ornithoptera, possessing the 

 "large anal valves" of the last.H It thus seems that the only reliable characters to 

 distinguish Ornithoptera are, to use the words of Mr. Wallace, " the great strength and size 

 of these insects, the thick texture of their wings, their long, curved and stout autennai, their 



* Lep. Ceyl. vol. i. p. 155. The lar\a and pupa of U. ilarsiiis are figured from dra\vin;,'s made by tbo Bros, de Alwis, 

 ibid., t. 55, f. 1, 6. — Horsfield has also figured the larva and pupa of a species found iu Java (Cat. Lep. E. 1. C. t. iv. f. 13, 13 o). 

 t Gen. Diurn. Lep. p. 3. I Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xxv. p. 35 (1865). 



§ Trans. Linn. Soc. ser. 2, Zool. vol. ii. p. 271 (1883). 



II P. semperi, Feld., from the Philippines (described by Eeakirt as a new species). 

 IT Proc. Entom. Soc. Philad. iii. pp. 440-7 (1864). 



June 20, 1885. ■* » 



