It is almost needless to say the author availed himself of Mr. Gosse's kindness. But nearly five years elapsed 

 before he commenced the monograph, when there seemed a prospect of his relieving himself of the responsibility of 

 being his own publisher, and devoting himself entirely to the production of the work. However, before the issue of the 

 first part he found it would be wise to be his own publisher, and altogether to take every responsibility upon himself. 

 Since then he has laboured unceasingly on this work, with many difficulties financial, of ill-health, and other 

 obstacles, to contend with — ever full of hope and determination — assured that He who had helped His servant thus far, 

 would give him in due time the joy of completing the work. It will be readily understood why he has had, and may 

 have for a while longer, to make such demands on the patience of his subscribers, when it is understood that in addition 

 to all the work needed in preparing the letter-press, and drawing the plates, the author colours with his own hands 

 every copy of every plate that is published, and personally delivers or sends the parts to each subscriber when ready 

 for them. But he trusts that whatever faults and shortcomings the work may exhibit, (and he is fully conscious of 

 many of them) it will still be regarded by every lover of exotic entomology, as much better to have been done than to 

 have been left undone — a conclusion which will render him grateful to God and man. 



At the commencement of this monograph, the materials which would enable us to decide upon the true rank of 

 the Ornithoptera among the Papilionidse were unfortunately much more restricted than at the present time ; and in the 

 future we may confidently anticipate an accumulation of still more valuable and instructive examples of the group, 

 which may modify or even completely alter our views on the subject ; for there is no finality in entomology any more 

 than there is in other departments of science. But even at an early period of this work, a close study of the different 

 forms composing what was then called the Genus Ornithoptera convinced the Author that the position assigned to the 

 so called genus among the Papilionidas, by nearly all authors, was the correct, or nearly correct one ; that these_ insects, 

 though in some respects it was difficult to say in what important characters they differed from the other Papilios, for 

 several good reasons were allowed to take precedence of them, as a distinct genus ; that the number of good, substantial 

 species was really very small— indeed, more restricted than even was at first suspected — despite the great number of 

 names that had been given to them ; and that, while the number of local forms and varities was already large, it was 

 certain to become much larger, as new and especially insulated localities were explored. Now this is exactly what has 

 been taking place. The subsequent great increase of materials has not modified these impressions, though it 

 has greatly enlarged them, and given him a sense of the glory of the group, which may be compared with the feeling one 

 experiences when thinking of the even greater advance in discovery and knowledge, in Ornithology for example, of the 

 numerous species, and the astounding beauty and strangeness of form, of the Birds of Paradise. Indeed, as the author 

 has ventured to suggest in another place, seeing that the most glorious of all the Ornithoptera, those of the genera 

 Schoenbergia and JEtheoptera, seem to inhabit geographical areas identical with or near the metropolis of these birds, 

 and are as beautiful in their way as the Birds of Paradise, these species of Ornithoptera may well be called the 

 Butterflies of Paradise. 



For reasons recorded in their own proper place in this work, it was found necessary at first to divide the genus 

 Onithoptera into three sub-genera — later on to give these full generic rank, viz., Ornithoptera (with its section 

 Priamoptera), Trogonoptera, at that time consisting of only one species, and Pompeoptera. At the same time there 

 were two remarkable forms, one a 3 and the other a 2 (only one example of each) whose position in the groupit was 

 difficult to understand. These were De Haan's 3 Tithonus and Gray's 2 Victoria. These were obviously distinct as 

 species from any of the Priamus group, whilst appearing to have a close affinity for it. The question then arose, is the 2 

 Victora the mate of the 3 Tithonus, or do they each belong to distinct species ? Ultimately the discovery of the gorgeous 

 and remarkably formed ? of Victoria and many more 2 2 by Mr. Woodford in the Solomon Islands, and, a little later 

 on, the description, by Mr. Salvin, of the allied form Regina, and the discovery of De Haan's Tithonus (both sexes) in the 

 island of Waigieu, enabled us to more properly study their affinities with the group to which they belong, with the 

 result that they fall into two distinct genera, one of which should immediately precede, and the other succeed, the 

 ^enus Ornithoptera (or the Priamus group, as it was called). The addition of the tailed Sch. Paradisea to the 

 Ornithoptera supplied the genus for Tithonus. It is to be noted that all the members of the genus Ornithoptera, in the 

 3 sex, were distinguished by the presence on the anterior wing of a pupaeform sericeous brand ; this character is also 

 found 'in ^Etheoptera, while the form and colouration of the 3 is quite distinct from those of the Priamus group, 

 and the 2 is also quite unlike any 2 of the genus Ornithoptera. On the contrary both Paradisea and Tithonus 3 3 

 possess no stigmatic brand, their abdominal marginal fringe is very long, dense, and white or light sienna tone, and 

 their females are quite different in appearance from those of Victoria and its congeners, and though somewhat like 

 those of Ornithoptera, are yet abundantly distinct from them. Victoria therefore became the type of ^theoptera and 

 Paradisea of the genus Schoenbergia (or, as Pagenstecher suggested, but without characterising it, a subgenus). 



The genera Trogonoptera and Pompeoptera are, in the 3 , possessed of an abdominal marginal fold or pouch, 

 concealing the androconia, and the 3 3 of the red and black South and Central American Papilios, or as the Author 

 proposes to call them Ornithopterina, are possessed of a similar character in the same position. 



In addition to these genera it was necessary to admit Drury's Papilio Antimachus, and Hewitson's P. Zalmoxis 

 (both West African species) to the ranks of the Ornithoptera, to place them undoubtedly before Schoenbergia, and to 

 include them in the genus Drurya (created by Aurivillius in 1880) for the type A ntimachus. It was suggested to the author 

 that White's Ridley anus, also a W. African species, should come into the group, but as he has shewn, this papilio is by 

 no means related to the Ornithoptera. With regard to the Ornithopterina they will have to be separated into 2 genera 

 at least, which when properly studied will reveal some remarkable analogies to both Ornithoptera and Pompeoptera. 



As we have therefore a number of genera included among the Ornithoptera, it appeared to be wise to regard 

 them as worthy of being associated together as a tribe, the Papilionine tribe TROIDES, a generic name given to 



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DSI 



