23 



base, and also the submedian for a short distance, 

 are rather swollen ; the fringe lunules rudimentary 

 and white. Posterior wings dark brown, or bronze black, 

 lightened from the base by paler brown hairs ; the grey 

 discal area consists of 4 internervular accumulate marks, 

 separated by or containing the conical dark marks which 

 coalesce with the dark veinal portions — thereby dividing 

 three of them into two separate parts — the upper part of 

 one being reduced to a small speck ; the lower portions of 

 all are subdued to a dark warm grey-brown by scaling, 

 and the outlines of all are softened into the dark by grey 

 scales ; these, together with a subapical mark and a fifth 

 division of the light discal area at the anal angle, consti- 

 tute a discal band of grey marks, or a light discal area 

 narrower and of a different character from the general 

 light area of the other vars. of Poseidon. Under surface 

 of the primaries with one half the cell and the middle 

 portion of the disc a lighter brown than above ; with 2 

 faint light marks, the first and faintest between the 1st and 

 2nd, and the second and lightest between the 2nd and 

 3rd median nervules ; below the 3rd median nervule and 

 the submedian fold is a small grey speck. Posterior 

 wings similar in markings to above, except that they are 

 purer in tint, grey or light orange, and more decided in 

 outline, and altogether constitute an ideal discal band of 

 light marks, 7 in number, extending from the subcostal 

 to the anal angle — the lower 5 enclosing large conical 

 black spots. Length of costa of anterior wing, 95 mms. 



The abdomen greenish-grey above, except the penulti- 

 mate and anal segments, which are ochraceous ; beneath 

 brownish golden-yellow ; the lateral black dots well 

 shewn ; thorax velvety brownish-black, with a slight 

 indication of the usual green longitudinal stigma ; on the 

 underside the pectoral red patches in which the 2nd and 

 3rd pairs of legs are imbedded are sufficiently prominent. 



In the collection of the University Museum, Hope De- 

 partment, Oxford. 



Hab. not stated. 



5 . In Mr. H. Grose-Smith's collection. Anterior 

 wings rather lighter brown ; with 1 small rudimentary 

 light cell spot — [i.e. the lower fragment of the general 

 cell spot of Poseidon) ; and 8 or 9 irregular-shaped frag- 

 ments of the general discal and submarginal marks ; the 

 fringe lunules a little more prominent, and ochraceous. 

 Posterior wings with the pattern similar in character to 

 the Oxford example, but greyer, more regular in outline, 

 and approaching the character of the general Poseidon 

 form. Underside of all the wings more nearly like that 

 of the Oxford example, save that the cell mark is rather 

 larger, and most of the anterior wing-marks and dots are 

 more or less rudimentarily present. Abdomen grey above 

 and orange beneath. Length of costa of anterior wing, 

 102 mms. Hab. Stevensort Interior. 



The anterior wings of this form are rather more acute 

 at the apical angle than in Poseidon ; and in the Archideus 

 form they are still more acute or pointed — the latter being 

 also rather longer in proportion to the hind wings than 

 in Brunneus or Poseidon. 



Mr. Rothschild's diagnosis of this variety is as follows: — 

 "White markings on upperside of fore wings entirely 

 obliterated, except a point-like spot between the lower 

 median nervules," and, he says, " this remarkable aber- 

 ration has been found by Mr. A. S. Meek, on Fergusson 



Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands ; among some hundreds 

 from that locality there are all intergradations between 

 this aberration and S -ab., Archideus (Gray)." 



There appears to be no distinctly variable <? belonging 

 to this variety. Probably the plastic character of the 2 

 is absolutely necessary to ensure its safety in its special 

 environment. 



We may safely say of the species Poseidon and its 

 many varieties or local forms, whether we agree with or 

 differ from the decision of Mr. Rothschild as to the named 

 forms to be included as varieties or aberrations, that 

 among its females we are never likely to meet with two 

 examples which are exactly alike ; and, according to 

 Mr. Rothschild, after an examination of a large number 

 of individuals, say from any special locality such as 

 Waigiou or German New Guinea, all the local forms 

 which he enumerates, were found together; whilst he tells 

 us that only a small proportion of the specimens from the 

 Aru Islands represent the typical Aruana, from Waigiou 

 the typical Archideus, or from Cape York the typical 

 Pronomus. 



_ Among the genuine or hypothetical vars. and aberra- 

 tions the following are included : — 



Euphorion Gray, Pronomus Gray, Archideus Felder, 

 Cronius Felder, Triton Felder, Oceanus Felder, Brunneus 

 Rothschild, Pegasus Felder, Kirschi Oberthiir, Aruana 

 Felder, (its var. Valentina Viellot), Hecuba Rober, Eumceus 

 Rippon, Goliath Oberthiir, and, to be consistent, Cassandra 

 Scott (which Mr. Rothschild affirms is one of the numer- 

 ous individual aberrations of Euphorion. Several of these 

 varieties (or so-called species) are, I admit, based upon 

 characters which may be found to re-appear in some of the 

 other named varieties on examining a long series — characters 

 which are of small value ; but, as far as the series of forms 

 ranging from Priamus to Urvillianus are concerned, with 

 one or two exceptions, it is not easy to say off-hand of 

 one particular example of the ? , and often of the $ , why 

 we should give it one name more than another. We have 

 a similar difficulty to encounter with many of the named 

 forms of the Genus Pompeoptera, and also with many of 

 the South and Central American Ornithopterina. 



It would, of course, be easy to include the whole of 

 the members of the Genus Ornithoptera in one great 

 plastic or variable species ; and as a matter of fact this is 

 what is tacitly done by most authors. I would however 

 venture to slightly modify this wholesale treatment of the 

 genus, and propose the following arrangements in the 

 absence of a fuller knowledge of the life history of the 

 different forms : — 



1. Species Priamus, Linn. ; S. Moluccas : Amboina, 

 Ceram. 



2. Species Richmondia, Gray ; New South Wales : 

 Rockhampton, Richmond River. [This may be only a 

 subspecies of Priamus.'] 



3. Species Cassandra, Scott, Euphorion of Rothschild ; 

 N. Australia : Queensland. [This is either a sub-species 

 of Priamus, or a large local variety of Richmondia.'] In 

 Richmondia and Cassandra the white patch of the cell of 

 the anterior wings varies in size from some almost obsolete 

 minute spots to a patch occupying a large part of the 

 cell ; but in Priamus there is no cell patch at all. 



