28 Euploeines forming Mimetic Groups 



same thing. The two are not known to fly together, and no form of 

 eleutho is known east of 150° E. long., and no form of helcita west 

 of 160° E. long. It does not appear improbable that the presence or 

 absence of the sexual stripe may be geographical. We have already 

 noticed variation in this sexual stripe, and it is sometimes absent in 

 specimens of a series from the same locality, or it may appear in a 

 species which normally does not show it. 



The relationship between eleutho and helcita is perhaps indicated 

 by whitmei Butl. from the Loyalty Islands, and schmeltzi H.S. from 

 Samoa, which resemble the darker forms of helcita although they 

 possess a sexual stripe in the male. 



The synonymy of eleutho is now as follows : — 



Danais eleutho Quoy and Gaimard, Freycinet's Voy. Planches, 

 pi. 83, f. 12 (1815) ; texte, p. 554 (1824) (Guam). Godart, Ency. 

 Meth. Supp. ix., p. 815 (1823). Boisd. Voy. Astrol., p. 100 (1832) 

 (parfim.— Guam). Butler, P.Z.S., p. 300 (1866). Moore, P.Z.S., 

 p. 272 (1874) (Guam). Fruhsfcorfer, Seitz. Macrolep., ix, p. 241 (1910). 



2. Ewploea helcita Boisd. (pi. IVb, fig. 6). 



This species was described in 1859 by Boisduval in the Bull. 

 Ent. Soc. France, Ser. 3, vol. 7, p. 156, from a specimen from New 

 Caledonia. Boisduval, in his description, does not give the sex, and 

 says : " Appartient a ce groupe propre en grande partie aux lies de 

 l'ocean Pacifique, dont les males sont caracterises par une raie lnisante, 

 glabre, sur le bord interne des ailes superieures." 



As this description appeared to complicate the question of eleutho 

 and helcita, I asked Monsieur Oberthiir if he would examine the type 

 in his collection. He very kindly wrote and gave me much valuable 

 information. The type is a male, and Monsieur Oberthur says : 

 " Helcita manque sur le dessus des ailes de ' cette raie luisante, glabre,' 

 que Boisduval invoque comme caracteristique du groupe." 



And further: " Boisduval qui decrit un $ de helcita, omet, au cours 

 de la description, de dire que cette ' raie luisante, glabre ' en dessus fait 

 defaut a helcita. De plus, Boisduval s'abstient, dans la description de 

 helcita, de signaler les grosses taches blanches extracellulaires aux ailes 

 superieures. II est vrai qu'il compare ' au port et a le taille de Yeleutho,' 

 qui presente a peu pres les memes grosses taches." 



Butler, in his monograph in the Proc. Zool. Soc, 1866, believed 

 helcita to be a local race of eleutho, as Boisduval's description would 

 lead one to suppose. 



