﻿ORNITHOPTERA DARSIUS. 



Ornithoptera Amphimedon ? , Doubleday and Hewitson, " Genera Diurnal Lepidoptera," t. i, f. 2. (1846.) 

 Papilio Darsius, Gray, "Cat. Lep. Ins. Brit. Mus." I., p. 5, n. 11. (1852.) 3 $ . 

 „ „ Gray, "List. Lep. Ins. Brit. Mus." I., p. 4, n. 13. (1856.) <? ? . 



„ „ Horsfield and Moore, "Cat. Lep Ins. Mus. East India Company," I„ p. 87, n. 176, t. 2, f. 2, 2a, larva, pupa. (1857.) 



„ „ Felder, "Wien Ent. Monatschrift," iv., p. 97, (i860.) St. 



Ornithoptera Darsius, Tennent, " Nat. Hist. Ceylon," p. 425. (1861.) 

 Papilio Darsius, Felder, " Verh. zubei Ges. Wien," p, zgi, n. 24. (1864.) <? ? . 

 Papilio „ W. F. Kirby, " Syn. Cat. Diurn. Lepid." p. 519. (1871.) 

 Ornithoptera Darsius, Oberthiir, " Etudes d'Entomologie," iv., p. 30, n. 8, (1879.) 3 S . 

 Ornithoptera „ Moore, " Lepidoptera of Ceylon," vol. i., p. 155, rigs. 1, ia, lb. (1881.) i ? . 



„ „ P. H. Gosse, " Clasping Organs in certain Lepidoptera," in " Proc. Linn, Soc." series II., Zoology, vol. ii., pp. 286, 287, plate xxvi., figs. 8-11. (188* 



„ „ Fickert, " Ueber die. Zeichn. Gatt. Ornith." pp. 736 and 743 (in Zoologischen Jahrbuchern) . (1889.) it. 



„ „ F. A. Walker, " Oriental Entomology," part ii., p. 15. (1889.) 



Troides Darsius, Rothschild, " Novitates Zoological," vol. ii., p. 203, n. 10. (1895.) $ t . 



„ „ Moore, " Lepidoptera Indicas," vol. v., p. 149, plate 418, fig. 1. larva and pupa, ia, lb. (1901-1903.) f? ? . 



This species is only to be found in the Island of Ceylon. 

 As far as I am aware no example has ever been taken in 

 any other locality. It is also the only species of Troides 

 inhabitating Ceylon, a rather remarkable fact, considering 

 that other much smaller eastern islands and localities are 

 richer in the forms of this group, and that Ceylon supplies 

 over 16 species of Papilio, the majority of which are found 

 commonly also in India. Of other butterflies of the 1st 

 sub-family of Papilionidse, viz., the Pierinae, about 27 

 species, belonging to 9 Genera also inhabit the island, 

 making in the two sub-families, about 44 species, or 11 

 Genera ; or, allowing for new discoveries since the time 

 when Sir E. Tennent wrote his Natural History of Ceylon, 

 50 species and 11 or 12 genera — a very fair number for 

 one family of Lepidoptera. 



O. Darsius is generally found hovering over the flowers 

 of the heliotrope, according to Sir E. Tennent, seeking the 

 honey which that flower supplies ; but the larva feeds on 

 the leaves of the aristolochia, and the betel leaf. It is the 

 largest of the Ceylon Diurnea — though rivalled sometimes 

 by the glorious Papilio polymnester, and the spectre like 

 Hestia Jasonia. Of course, among the Heterocerous Lepi- 

 doptera we find much larger species ; as for example 

 Attacus atlas, the cinnamon feeding moth, common at 

 Columbo, often 12 inches in expanse of wings ; A. lunula, 

 Anther <za Myletta (the Tusseh silk moth which feeds on 

 the wild almond Terminalia Catappa, and the castor oil 

 plant), A. Assama, and Tropcea Selena, the milky-green 

 swallow-tailed silk moth. Indeed, in almost every part of 

 the world the Bombycidce and Noctuidce furnish many much 

 larger insects than are to be met with among the day 

 butterflies, with the exception of the S. and Central 

 American Caligos. 



$ . Anterior wings a rich velvety black ; the adnervu- 

 lar rays almost obsolete, or only faintly visible — being so 

 intensely subdued by brown-black scaling ; the veins only 

 just detectable. Undersurface of wing, as above, except 

 that the light rays are less obscure, especially those 

 bordering the 3 median nervules : which are of subdued 

 olive-grey ; the black areas of the wing are slightly shot 

 with bluish olive green ; the veins on this surface appear 

 to be very thin. 



Posterior wings, velvety black ; the lower third of the 

 discoidal cell golden yellow ; a broad discal area of the 



same yellow divided into 6 compartments by the veins ; 

 outer submarginal band very broad, and sinuate : the out- 

 line of the wing lunate : the light fringe lunules only slightly 

 visible in the wings ; the veins dividing the yellow area of 

 the disc very stout and jet black ; the abdominal fold 

 which conceals the androconia deep brownish-black. 

 Undersurface in every respect as above, except that the 

 black is slightly shot with bluish reflections ; and the inner 

 margin is rufous brown. The pseudoneura of the anterior 

 wings are faintly visible. 



Head, antennae and thorax, velvety black ; eyes, nitid 

 brown ; pronotal collar, red, but obscure : abdomen, 

 dorsally piceous-brown — the annuli slightly indicated with 

 yellowish-grey — subdorsally the abdomen is yellow, sub- 

 dued by brown scales ; anal valves brown-grey. Under- 

 sides of thorax black, with the usual pectoral red marks. 



Length of costa, 74 mms. ; of posterior margin, 52 mms. ; 

 of interior margin, 40 mms. Greatest width of wing 38 

 mms. Greatest length of posterior wing, 50 mms. ; and 

 with, 30 mms. 



Length of abdomen or antennas, 32 mms. ; of thorax 

 with head 20 mms. 



Length f 1st pair : Femur, g ; Tibia, 7; Tarsi, 11 mms. 

 of \ 2nd „ . ,, 11 ; „ 12 ; ,, 14 „ 

 Legs (-3rd ,, : „ 10; ,, 11; ,, 14 „ 

 including the trochanters. 



Habitat : Ceylon. 



The area of yellow at the distal end of the posterior 

 wing cell varies in the different individuals of this sex, as 

 well as in shape ; in some it is rather more extensive than 

 in the example described above ; in others it is only an 

 obsolete spot, while in others the whole cell may be black. 

 On the undersurface of the anterior wings also the ad- 

 nervular rays in some examples are well expressed, and 

 all of them much lighter than in the above example ; the 

 subdorsum and sides of the abdomen also may be found 

 well marked by a double row of black spots or patches, be- 

 coming coalescent, and filling the whole of the basal 

 annuli. Length of costa in two other examples 70 and 

 84 mms. respectively. 



37 



