﻿Ill 



Supplementary Species or varieties discovered too late for inclusion in vol. i, of this work. 



SCHOENBERGIA TITAN, 



Orntthoptera Titan var. of O. Goliath, 3 , H. Grose-Smith, " Rhopalocera Exotica." Ornithoptera, vol. iii., plate iv., page 7. (1897). 



In all the annals of Entomological discovery there have 

 been no more wonderful revelations of extraordinary 

 beauty and magnitude than among the two sections of 

 the order Lepidoptera inhabiting the different latitudes of 

 New Guineaand its adjacent islands, especially those of the 

 south-eastern and eastern islands. There are multitudes of 

 diurnal and crepuscular moths which outrival in variety of 

 lovliness and in number of species, the productions of any 

 other part of the world, not excepting even those of South 

 America ; and this applies to all the different families of 

 Heterocera almost without exception. With respect to 

 the Diurnea there has been a continual revelation of 

 new species unsurpassed in beauty, and of rare species 

 which were hitherto almost unique in European collec- 

 tions — the Lycsenidae for example. But among the most 

 royal of all are the species of Papilionidag, especially 

 those of the group of Troides, which contains the 

 Genus Schoenbergia, with its Butterflies of Paradise, as I 

 consider they merit being called, of which the discoveries of 

 the last ten years have filled the hearts of all enthusiastic 

 students with astonishment and delight. There are no 

 adjectives in any European language which can sufficiently 

 express our admiration of these ! As I have said in another 

 place, they merit, as butterflies, a sentiment in our re- 

 gards quite equal to that we feel when contempla- 

 ting the perfections and attractions of the Paradise Birds, 

 while in magnitude some of them at least, are the rivals 

 of the American Morphos. 



The insect from which the following species is described 

 and re-figured by me, is the only example at present 

 existing in Europe, so far as I am aware, and is the type 

 of Mr. Grose-Smith's plate and description, published in 

 his splendid work quoted above. It is one of the most 

 magnificent additions he has had the good fortune to place 

 in his extensive collection ; and I am indebted to his 

 courtesy and kindness for the pleasure of again recording 

 it in my own way in this work. 



Schoenbergia Titan was taken in 1901, about 30 or 40 

 miles inland from Kapa Kapa, in British New Guinea. 

 Sch. Goliath, the 5 of which is figured in the 1st volume 

 of this work, would almost appear to be the consort of 

 Titan : — probably this is the case ; but as Goliath inhabits 

 Kapaur, in Dutch territory, and hundreds of miles from 

 the locality of Titan, we cannot feel justified in definitively 

 assuming that the two forms belong to the same species 

 until we obtain more material for study — especially when 

 we consider the exuberance of variety of insect life in New 

 Guinea. 



$ . Anterior wings sub-scalene-triangulate ; somewhat 

 acute at the apex ; the costa gracefully arcuate ; the outer 

 margin nearly straight, with only the slightest indications 

 of the usual marginal fringe curvatures ; with no marginal 

 white lunations, as are in most of the species of the Troides ; 

 the inner margin is also nearly a straight line from the 

 posterior angle to the base ; colour of the wings rich 

 golden green — ranging in tint from golden-emerald and 

 apple-green, through every degree of shade to a coppery 

 or golden-yellow, according to the position in which it is 

 held, as the light falls upon it ; thus, if held exactly opposite 



the light the wings are entirely green except below the 

 submedian nervures, where they become coppery yellow : 

 viewed obliquely against the light, we obtain the coppery- 

 yellow tone, according as the insect is turned about. The 

 green of the upper portion of the wing is divided by a 

 broad belt of velvety-black from the outer margin to the 

 base, occupying about two-thirds of the discoidal cell 

 at its distal end, and broadening till at the basal end no 

 green remains — this area of black also extends outside the 

 cell on the disc to the apical angle, and below the median 

 nervure is continued so as to form three dentate patches 

 of black between the 3rd discocellular and 1st median, 

 and the 1st and 2nd, and 2nd and 3rd median branches ; 

 it also is prolonged from the apical to the posterior angles 

 as a broad but gradually narrowing submarginal black 

 band ; the costa is narrowly black, and with the sub- 

 costal nervure encloses a subcostal green stripe ; the veins 

 are all very stout, and sufficiently expressed, even in the 

 green — the submedian and internal nervures being black. 



Posterior wings rounded in outline, with graceful but 

 slight marginal incurvatures between the vein terminals, 

 and distinctly excurved at the anal angle in a manner quite 

 unlike the outline of the posterior wing of any other 

 Ornithopteron. 



Colours : silky golden yellow, except for a very broad 

 abdominal area of velvety-black, which also occupies 

 nearly all the space from the median vein and its 2nd 

 branch from the base to the anal angle of the wing, 

 curving farthest from the median between its 2nd and 3rd 

 branches. A narrow curved streak of golden yellow is at 

 the edge of the abdominal margin, from the base ; a 

 narrow submarginal band of black extends round the wing 

 from the apex into the inner marginal area of black, and is 

 narrowly scalloped above with a delicate olive-green, which 

 also borders the nervures ; there are three rather large 

 sub-orbicular discal green spots between the nervules of 

 the upper half of the wings, each one pupilled in its 

 inner end by a black spot ; the veins of the wing are brown 

 greenish-black, and quite distinctly expressed. 



Under surface of anterior wings silky greenish-golden 

 yellow, varying in amount of colour according to the 

 position in which the light falls upon it ; the apex and 

 upper part of the cell is more richly green ; the costa 

 black ; a moderately broad posterior marginal band of 



black, curves towards the veins in this way_,_. 



the distal end of each vein disappearing in the apex of each 

 curve ; the interior black margin of the wing is a continu- 

 ation to the base of the outer marginal band ; there are 4 

 small sub-lunate discal black marks between the 1st and 

 2nd discocellular, the 2nd discocellular and first median 

 and downward to the 3rd median veins ; below, on the 

 submedian fold is also a minute black spot ; between the 

 4th and 5th subcostal ner/ules is a patch of black atoms 

 or scaling; the veins are all strongly expressed in black, 

 especially the median branches ; the pseudoneura of the 

 cell are only very faintly shown at their distal ends, and 

 appear to be arranged differently from those of other 

 species, as will be seen by reference to my plate. Under 

 surfaces of the posterior wings as on the upper, ex- 



