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V. Descripiions of some new Papilionidae. By J. 0. 

 Westwood, M.A., F.L.S., Prea. Ent. Soc. 



[Read 3rd July and 4th December, 1871.] 



The vast additions which have, within the last twenty 

 years, been made to our Entomological Collections from 

 almost all parts of the world, and the more careful indica- 

 tion of the localities of individuals from adjoining districts, 

 have not only resulted in the description of great numbers 

 of distinct species, but have also made us acquainted with 

 numbers of locally distinct races, or geographical varieties, 

 or sub-species, as they have been variously termed, the 

 study of which, especially as regards the manner in which 

 the variation in the different individuals or races may 

 have been effected, if at all, and especially what may be 

 the value of the characters which are thus seen to vary, is 

 still quite in its infancy. 



In the Paper which I now present to the Society, I 

 have described several Butterflies belonging to the great 

 genus Papilio, some of which seem quite distinct from 

 all the already described species ; whilst others may 

 possibly be regarded as permanent local varieties. To 

 the latter, in the present state of the science of Entomo- 

 logy, it will, I think, be desirable to assign names, but, in 

 accordance with a plan, which I have elsewhere adopted, 

 I have given them names which at once indicate their 

 apparent connexion with the species to which, in a wide 

 sense, they appear to belong. I have also taken some 

 pains to indicate the manner in which the variations 

 in the different species occurs. The older writers, of 

 course, did not hesitate to consider the sub-species as 

 identical with the type ; hence we find Fabricius writing 

 the MS. name of" Papilio Idea, var. /S" as the identifica- 

 tion of a drawing of Hestia Leuconoe, of Erichson, in the 

 volume of Jones's 'Icones' containing the Papiliones 

 Danai, three-quarters of a century before it was described 

 by Erichson ; and many other instances might be quoted, in 

 which both Linnaeus and Fabricius described, under the 

 same name, individuals now regarded even as more dis- 

 tinct than geographical sub-species or varieties. 



The careful investigation, indeed, in all its bearings, of 

 these wild local varieties (assuming them to be such) 

 seems to me to be likely to afford more important data 



TRANS. ENT. SOC. 1872. PART II. (mAY.) H 



