124 Miscella neous, 



Note on some Sponges from the Auckland Islands, 

 I3y Prof. E.. von Lexdenfeld. 



Since comparatively little is known of the littoral fauna in higher 

 southern latitudes, I was very glad to find among the shallow-water 

 sponges sent to me by my late friend Baron Mueller, of Melbourne, 

 a number of specimens, belonging to five different species, from the 

 Auckland Islands. 



These islands are situated in lat. 50° 30' S. and long. 166° E., about 

 450 km. south of New Zealand. The sponges from that locality 

 in ^Mueller's collection are : 1. Antherochalina concentrica, 2. Cerao- 

 chalina multiformis var. dura, 3. Euchalinojisis (Chalina) ocidata, 

 4. Thorecta eremplum var. tertia, and 5. Sponrjelia elastica var. 

 lobosa. 2, 3, and 4 have previously been found in New Zealand ; 

 1, 4, and 5 in Australia; and 3, 4, and 5 also elsewhere. New 

 forms, not hitherto obtained from other localities, were not among 

 these Auckland-Island sponges. 



On the Sexes of Charaxes mixtus, Bothschild. 

 By A. G. BuTLEK, Ph.D. &c. 



In my late revision of the genus Charaxes (Journ. Linn. Soc, 

 Zool. vol. XXV. p. 377) I placed C. mixtus. Roths., as a variety of 

 C. tiridates, remarking : — " There can be no doubt, I think, that 

 the prominence of the white centres to the blue spots, unless proved 

 to be peculiar to one locality only, can hardly indicate even a 

 distinct race. Mr. Rothschild insists that the true female of 

 C. mixtus resembles the male ! " 



Recently Mr. Rothschild brought the type of his female C. iuitius 

 to the Museum, but, unhappily, I was away ill. Mr. Heron, how- 

 ever, made a careful coloured drawing of it, which, on my return, 

 he showed me. Directly I looked at it I was convinced, by the 

 form of the wings alone, that it was a female, though with the 

 colouring of a male ! * Mr. Rothschild was therefore quite correct 

 as to the sex of hie type of C. mixtus $. Whether the latter is 

 more than a dimorphic form of C. tiridates can only be satisfac- 

 torily decided by those who have an opportunity of studying it in 

 life and breeding it ; but there are several other species of Charaxes 

 which have two well-defined forms of females, whilst the males 

 differ in much the same way as those of C. tnixtus and C. tiridates f. 

 1 hardly think C. mixtus can be a seasonal form, on account of its 

 great rarity, whilst C. tiridates is one of the most abundant of the 

 blue Charaxes of West Africa ; but I think it may be a rare di- 

 morphic form of C. tiridates 2 . The difi'orences in the male alone 

 would not strike anybody as of great importance — they are less 

 than one notes botwoeo the acknowledged varieties of many species ; 

 nevertheless, if they should be proved to be constant, I would be 

 the last to refuse to recognize their importance, for I am well aware 

 that characters which in one group of butterfiies are valueless are 

 quite constant and reliable in another. 



* An extremely surprising thing in this group, where the female 

 dirt'erences are usuallv verv pronounced, 

 t C. UoUandii and C. l)ewitzi. 



