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Genus Papilio were still too small in number ; and up to 

 a recent time many entomological authorities still called 

 them by their earlier generic name. For the knowledge 

 of these we were indebted chiefly to the researches of the 

 Dutch, who were at that time practically the masters of 

 all that part of the east, except India and Australia, and 

 New Guinea West of 140 longitude. 



It is always rather hazardous to describe a genus from 

 the S only of a new species ; but in 1816 Hiibner separated 

 the 5 of Helena from Papilio, and characterised it as the 

 type of a new generic form, under the name of Troides 

 Amphimedon. Later on Clerck's S Helena had to be 

 recognised as the <? of Amphimedon — consequently the 

 Amphinedon ? had to take the name of her husband, and 

 abandon the name given her by Cramer in 1782. But 

 if this generic name is still to be accepted by modern 

 entomologists, in defiance of the very large amount of new 

 material since accumulated, we can only logically include 

 the whole of the Ornithoptera under the designation of 

 Troides as Mr. Rothschild has done. This, I regret, I 

 am unable to do, for reasons given in other parts of this 

 work; hence I retained Hiibner's TROIDES as the tribal 

 name for the whole of the genera and species of the 

 Ornithoptera, as set forth in the Title Page and Preface to 

 Vol. I. of this work. It might be suggested that as a 

 compromise, my Genus Pompeoptera should be discarded 

 with its type in favour a Genus Troides with Helena as 

 the type. Probably this might have been the best 

 arrangement at first ; but it is too late now, so far as I 

 am concerned. 



But within the last few years Helena has greatly 

 enlarged its boundaries, or rather increased the number 

 of its relatives ; for we have the following varieties with 

 names given them : — 



Papuensis, 2 Wallace, 1865 ; Jupiter, 2 Oberthur, 1879; 

 Heliacon, ab. rutilans, Oberthur <? 2 1879 ; Leda, $ 2 

 Staudinger, 1891 ; Papuanus, 2 Oberthur, 1879 ; Thestius, 

 Staudinger 1894 ; Bouruensis, Wallace $ 2 1894 ; Celeben- 

 sis s 2 Wallace, 1895; Melpomona, <? . Rippon; Carolus, 

 $ Friihstorfer (an ab. of Papuensis) 1897. J- A. E. Goeze, 

 in 1759, in his " Ent. Beytr" III., 1, p. 44, n. 22 described 

 a $ of Hippolytus, as the 2 of Helena, under the specific 

 name of Oblongomacidatus. This old and quite forgotten 

 name has been revived by some authorities, I regret to say. 



The modern custom of resuscitating old or 

 obsolete names, and substituting them for well-known 

 and universally accepted names, has greatly complicated 

 the study of Entomology ; and I must most firmly 

 protest against this practice, which can do no earthly 

 good, but much harm to science. We can imagine the 

 results if the ancient names or spelling of our English or 

 foreign localities were re-introduced in our maps, to the 

 exclusion of all modern and well-known names ! Some- 

 thing like this has for some years been happening in 

 Entomology — especially among the Lepidoptera and 

 Coleoptera, with the result, notably among the English 

 lepidoptera, that if one had dropped asleep over a 

 catalogue of our English moths some 25 or 30 years ago, 

 and only awoke in the present year, if a present day 

 catalogue were substituted for the former document, one 

 would be quite unable to recognise many species by their 



re-incarnated names, to say nothing to the genera ; it 

 would be a new case of Rip Van Winkle. Indeed our 

 insect nomenclature is becoming fearfully and wonderfully 

 new ! 



P. Helena, with its varieties, has a fairly wide geo- 

 graphical range. Its metropolis is Ceram and Amboyna 

 so far as the type form is concerned ; but its varieties 

 and aberrations are found in E. Java, (Salayer) Macassar, 

 Bouru, W. Sumatra and Dutch New Guinea, and 

 Celebes— probably in other localities also. 



$ Very large size. Anterior wings entirely velvety 

 black, with slightly warm reflections ; the veins all 

 sufficiently prominent ; the 3rd and 4th subcostal branches 

 commence at about 2 or 3 mms. from the distal end of 

 the cell ; the pseudoneura fairly traceable within the 

 discoidal cell. Undersurface of the wing as above, but 

 slightly lighter and browner, with nearly obsolete small 

 groups of white adnervular scales towards the outer 

 margin — the remnants of adnervular discal rays. 

 Posterior wings a rich silky golden yellow, in which the 

 stout nervules and their branches are prominently seen ; 

 the base of the discoidal cell is narrowly black ; costal 

 and subcostal areas are black, but broadly and irregularly 

 separated by the yellow in the subcostal area ; the 

 abdominal margin from the base is black, and merges 

 into the broad outer marginal black band, which lunate 

 or dentate on the disc, with a width one-half the disc ; the 

 yellow area extends narrowly dentate at the 2nd median 

 nervule nearly half-way into the black border, and the 

 yellow area occupies narrowly half the length of the 

 submedian area. A few fine delicate black hairs flow from 

 the base over this yellow area. Undersurface as above, ex- 

 cept that the dentations of the submarginal band are still 

 more pronounced, and softened into the yellow at their 

 apices by black scales, as is i-3rd of the yellow sub- 

 median portion of the wing ; the abdominal margin is 

 greyish rufous ; the abdominal marginal hairs are ' 

 moderately long, and reddish black. 



Head with black pulvilli ; eyes dark nitid brown ; 

 antennae black ; pronotal collar black enclosed by 2 fine 

 narrow red bands ; thorax black pilose-velvety above — the 

 same beneath with the usual red pectoral patches; the legs 

 long and black ; abdomen fumous brown, the sides yellow 

 with a dorsal lighter longitudinal mark, and the articula 

 slightly accentuated with yellow ; the subdorsum yellow, 

 with the small lateral black dots ; the anal valves 

 creamy buff. 



Length of abdomen or antennae, 31 mms. ; and of 

 thorax with the head, 20 mms. 



Length of anterior wing costa, 83 mms. ; of the outer 

 margin, 62 mms. ; and of the inner margin, 44 mms. 

 Length of posterior wing 50 mms. ; greatest width 

 32 mms. The costa is much rounded. 



T , fist pair : Femur, 13 ; tibia, 9 ; tarsi, 13 mms. 



Length of l d ^ ^ J4 . n I3 . m l6 



Legs - brd ;; ijl 



Habitat : Ceram, A. R. Wallace. 



In the Museum of Mr. H. Grose-Smith. 



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