Rhopalocera from the Australian region. 161 
to which I fastened a net, proceeded to the spot where 
I had noticed the Ornithoptera the evening before, and 
here I remained for the greater part of the day. I also 
took a spare net with me, and some native boys to carry 
my boxes and make themselves generally useful. It was 
rather a dull day, and there were not many butterflies 
about, but we managed to secure six urvilliana,—three 
males and three females,—but none of them were 
quite perfect. The females occasionally fly low among 
the underwood, apparently engaged in depositing their 
eggs, and the males then often follow them. One of my 
boys succeeded in catching two at a single stroke of his 
net—a male and female. I ought to have obtained 
several others, but, although such large insects, they 
are not easy to secure, and one gets nervous and excited 
at the sight of such huge and brilliant creatures ; 
moreover, my nets were far too small. When I got 
back to the ship I found that some natives had brought 
a pair of urvilliana on board, the male being much 
finer than any of my captures. 
We remained at Meoko the whole of the following 
day, when I again paid a visit to the forest, and found 
several larve of wrvilliana, of different sizes, feeding 
upon a large-leaved Aristolochia, which was creeping 
abundantly in some places over the low brushwood, but 
[ took no more perfect insects. 
On July 16th, 1883, we arrived at Matupi, a small 
island in Blanche Bay, New Britain, and about twenty 
miles from Meoko. Messrs. Hernsheim & Co., German 
merchants, have a store there, and do a large trade 
with the natives in ‘“‘copra,” the sun-dried cocoa-nut. 
I landed after lunch, and Captain Hernsheim kindly 
placed a boat at my disposal, manned by about a dozen 
natives, in which I crossed to the mainland of New 
Britain, a distance of about two miles. The natives 
knew that I was in quest of butterflies, or ‘‘ bembi’s,” 
as they called them, and professed to be able to take me 
to a spot where they said they were very plentiful. 
It was nearly three o’clock when we left Matupi, and 
about half-past when we landed upon the opposite side. 
At first we wandered through banana plantations, where 
butterflies were scarce, and I only captured a few 
Danais sobrina, Boisd., Melanitis Leda, L., &c., and, 
being anxious to fall in with the great Ornithoptera, 
TRANS. ENT. SOC. LOND. 1888.—PaRT I. (MARCH.) M 
