Of Celebes. 287 



characterized by a peculiarity of outline which distinguishes 

 them at a glance from those of any other part of the world. 

 It is most strongly manifested in the Papilios and the Pieridae, 

 and consists in the fore wings being either strongly curved or 

 abruptly bent near the base, or in the extremity being elong- 

 ated and often somewhat hooked. Out of the 14 species of 

 Papilio in Celebes, 13 exhibit this peculiai'ity in a greater or 

 less degree, when compared with the most nearly allied species 

 of the surrounding islands. Ten species of Pieridte have the 

 same character, and in four or five of the Nymphalidae it is 

 also very distinctly marked. In almost every case the species 

 found in Celebes are much larger than those of the islands 

 westward, and at least equal to those of the Moluccas, or even 

 larger. The difference of form is however the most remarka- 

 ble feature, as it is altogether a new thing for a whole set of 

 species in one country, to differ in exactly the same way from 

 the corresi^onding sets in all the surrounding countries ; and 

 it is so well marked, that without looking at the details of 

 coloring, most Celebes Papilios and many Pieridse, can be at 

 once distinguished from those of other islands by their form 

 alone. 



The oiatside figure of each pair here given, shows the exact 

 size and form of the fore wing in a butterfly of Celebes, while 

 the inner one represents the most closely allied species from one 

 of the adjacent islands. Figure 1 shows the strongly curved 

 margin of the Celebes species (Papilio gigon) compared with 

 the much straighter margin of Papilio demolion from Singa- 

 pore and Java. Figure 2 shows the abrupt bend over the base 

 of the wing in Papilio miletus of Celebes compared with the 

 slight curvature in the common Papilio sarpedon, which has 

 almost exactly the same form from India to New Guinea and 

 Australia. Figure 3 shows the elongated wing of Tachyris 

 zarinda, a native of Celebes, compared with the much shorter 

 wing of Tachyi-is nero, a very closely allied species found in all 

 the western islands. The difference of form is in each case 

 sufficiently obvious, but when the insects themselves are com- 

 pared it is much more striking than in these partial outlines. 



From the analogy of birds, we should suppose that the 

 pointed wing gave increased rapidity of flight, since it is a 

 character of terns, swallows, falcons, and of the swift-flying 



