Faunal Regions 



of the most gorgeous of the papilionine genera is known as Orni- 

 thoptera. These great "bird-wing" butterflies are most brilliant 

 in color in the male, and in the female attain an expanse of wing 

 reaching in some species eight and even nine inches, so that it 

 would be impossible to represent them in their natural dimen- 

 sions upon a page such as that which is before the reader. One 

 of these giants of the butterfly family, named Victoria after her 

 Majesty the Queen of England, is found in the Solomon Islands, 

 and is probably the largest of all known butterflies. One speci- 

 men, belonging to the author, has an expanse of wing exceeding 

 nine inches. Among the strangest of recent discoveries is Orni- 

 thoptera paradisea, which is found in New Guinea. The male has 

 the hind wings produced in the form of a very delicate and slender 

 tail; the upper surfaces of the wing are broadly marked with 

 shining green and lustrous orange upon a velvety-black ground. 

 The female is black with white spots, slightly marked with yel- 

 low, being obscure in color, as is for the most part characteristic 

 of this sex among butterflies, as well as other animals. 



The Ethiopian Region is rich in beautiful butterflies of the genus 

 Callosune, which are white or yellow, having the tips of the an- 

 terior wings marked with crimson or purple. There are many 

 scores of species of these which are found on the grassy park-like 

 lands of southeastern Africa, and they range northward through 

 Abyssinia into Arabia, and a few species even invade the hot 

 lands of the Indian peninsula. In the great forests of the Congo, 

 and in fact throughout tropical Africa, the genus Acrcea, com- 

 posed of beautiful insects with long, narrow wings like the genus 

 Heliconius, but for the most part yellow, rich brown, and red, 

 spotted with black, abound. And here, too, are found some of 

 the noblest species belonging to the great genus Papilio, among 

 them that most singular and, until recently, rarest of the genus, 

 Papilio antimachus of Drury, one specimen of which, among a 

 dozen or more in the author's possession, has wings which exceed 

 in expanse even those of Ornithoptera victoria, though this but- 

 terfly, which seems to mimic the genus Acrcea, has compara- 

 tively narrow wings, and they, therefore, do not cover so large an 

 area as is covered in the case of the genus Ornithoptera. 



In the Neotropical Region we are confronted by swarms of 

 butterflies belonging to the Ithomiince, the Heliconiince, and the 

 Acrceince, all of which are known to be protected species, and 



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