1897.] L. de Niceville — Description of Neptis praslini. 535 



2. Neptis lactaria, Butler. 



Athyma lactaria, Butler, Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., third series, vol. xvii, 

 p. 98, n. 1 (1866) ; id., Godman and Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1878, p. 647; 

 Neptis praslini, Kirsch [nee Boisduval], Mitth. Mas. Dresden, vol. i, p. 125, n. 94 

 (1877) ; id., Godman and Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1879, p. 158, n. 27 ; id., 

 Oberthur, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genova, vol. xv, p. 503, n. 121 (1880) ; Athyma [sic] 

 praslina [sic], Tryon, Second Ann. Report Adm. Brit. New Guinea, App. v, p. 118 

 n. 57 (1890); Neptis papua, Oberthur, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genova, vol. xii, p. 460, n. 40 

 (1878) ; id., Grose Smith, Nov. Zool., vol. i, p. 352, n. 110 (1894). 



Habitat: Am Isles; var. la, Dory (Butler); Rubi, N.-W. New 

 Guinea ; Mysore and Jobi Islands (Kirsch) ; New Ireland ; mainland 

 of New Guinea (Godman and Salvin) ; Vaigheu and Mount Epa in 

 southern New Guinea ; Dore'i in New Guinea ; Ceram ( Oberthur) ; 

 Mansinam and Humboldt Bay, N.-W. New Guinea (Grose Smith) ; 

 Ke Isles ; Stephansort and Constantinhafen, German New Guinea ; 

 Waigiou or Waygiou (coll. de Niceville). 



Expanse: tf, 24 to 2*5 ; $, 2*5 to 2-8 inches. 

 Description : Male and female. Underside, hindwing differs from 

 typical N. praslini, Boisduval, from Cooktown, N.-E. Australia, in 

 having the large discal white area of lesser size, not continued as far as 

 the costal nervure and joined to the short basal streak in the subcostal 

 interspace as it is in that species, in N. lactaria the basal streak is quite 

 isolated from the discal white area. In other respects the two species, 

 as far as my specimens go, do not differ. 



Dr. A. G. Butler gives an excellent description of the species 

 (except that he does not say what sex he is describing) as Athyma 

 lactaria from the Aru Islands, and a var. 1 a ." with a narrower band on 

 the hindwing" from Dory, the latter probably being the Dorey or 

 Dorei of N.-W. New Guinea. Messrs. Godman and Salvin also record 

 A. lactaria from the mainland of New Guinea. Herr Th. Kirsch records 

 it as N. praslini from Rubi on the mainland of N.-W. New Guinea, 

 and from the neighbouring islands of Mysore and Jobi. He says : " In 



