ORNITHOPTERA EUM^US. 



Ornithoptera Eumseus, sp. nov. R. H. F. Rippon, Annals and Mag. Nat. History, August, 1S92, p. 193. 



S . Wings silky green-blue (nearly peacock-blue), espe- 

 cially the primaries, in some lights a blue-green ; nar- 

 rowly bordered with black. Primaries on the upper 

 surface with a broad, costal, longitudinal, discal band of 

 nearly uniform width extending from the base to within 

 a few millimetres of the apex, slightly narrower at each 

 extremity, strongly divided from the base by the costal 

 and subcostal nervures, and again nearly midway by 

 the subcostal nervure and its first branch nearest the 

 costal ; this band broadens slightly and irregularly where 

 it meets the first or upper discocellular nervule ; the 

 sexual transverse velvety patch extends from the first 

 median nervule to midway of the space bounded by the 

 median and subcostal nervures, is not separated from the 

 green-blue by black, and is of a rich dark fuscous ; the 

 median nervure nearly to the base strongly accentuated 

 by green-blue atoms, its three branches and the third 

 or lower discocellular nervule being also dusted in the 

 same manner, the atoms of the first median branch 

 extending into the coloured border; all the remaining 

 nervures and their branches are indicated faintly by 

 these atoms ; a green-blue marginal band extends from 

 the base of the posterior to four fifths of the exterior 

 margin, narrowest at the base and towards the anterior 

 angle, where it becomes divided by the marginal folds 

 into two or three elegantly curved patches, decreasing in 

 size towards the outer angle, following the outline of 

 the margin of the wing ; all the remainder of the wing 

 a deep velvety blue-black. 



Underside a rich black, becoming very tawny black 

 towards the exterior margin, the neuration standing well 

 in relief in either black or tawny black ; within the 

 discoidal cell an elongated patch of bluish green two 

 thirds of its width near the discocellular nervules and 

 very narrow at the base ; a slight irregular margin of the 

 same colour also at the upper part of the cell close upon 

 the subcostal nervure ; a few atoms also are so arranged 

 as to suggest that the tendency was for the whole cell to 

 be filled with green ; Avithout the cell the disk contains six 

 green patches, widely separated by the nervules, and two 

 costal patches, bounded by the third and fifth subcostal 

 branches, the uppermost being the largest, and each 

 of them being rather a congeries of more or less densely 

 sprinkled atoms than a continuous patch of green ; the 

 first four of these, starting from the posterior portion 

 of the wing, are divided nearest to the outer margin by a 

 more or less sublunate black spot ; the fifth contains a 

 triangulate, indented, and the sixth an elongate mark ; 

 all the green patches are well separated from the 

 neuration by black, and from the exterior margin of the 

 wing by tawny black. 



Secondaries : a silky green-blue extending over the 

 wing till just within the second subcostal nervure, when 

 the colour abruptly becomes a rich green, somewhat like 

 that of 0. aruana (Felder) ; this fills the remaining space 

 of Aving to the anterior margin, but is not found within 

 the discoidal cell ; the green and green-blue are delicately 



dusted and gradated by black atoms outwards from the 

 base and downwards ; three black submarginal ovoid 

 spots, the first within the first and second subcostal 

 nervules twice the length of the third and less distinct, 

 being dusted with green atoms ; the outer margin of the 

 wing narrowly black, the median and subcostal nervure 

 and first subcostal branch black and Avell-defined in the 

 green ; the space within the precostal nervure to the base 

 brown-black. Underside rich golden-green, as in aruana ; 

 the space from the anal angle Avithin the submedian 

 nervure and third median nervule halfway up golden- 

 yellow, base black ; six large submarginal black spots, the 

 upper one quadrate, the others more or less suboval ; 

 anterior margin partly filled Avith green, and space on 

 each side of precostal nervure with green atoms ; exterior 

 black margin slightly broader than on the upperside, 

 indented inwardly within the first and second subcostal 

 and second subcostal and discoidal branches ; the sub- 

 costal nervure and its first branch well defined by black. 



Head. — Eyes pearly light brown, margined with white ; 

 space between deep black ; antennae light smoky brown. 

 Articulations of antennae 54 each. 



Thorax. — Velvety black, Avith a very obtrusive longitu- 

 dinal green-blue stripe ; beneath lateral red patches and 

 tawny black. Legs black. 



Abdomen. — Golden yellow and ferruginous brown, the 

 latter perhaps intensified by fading ; anal segment with 

 the usual trisinuate black mark and a minute tawny 

 curved spot on each valve divested of scales ; lateral 

 black dots six in number. 



Length of costa 80 millim. ; antennae and abdomen 

 each 33 millim. ; head and thorax about 20 or 22 millim. 



Hub. Aru Islands. 



On the underside this form does not present any 

 features sufficiently distinct to distinguish it from aruana; 

 the upper surfaces, however, are remarkably different in 

 colour from that species, though the arrangement of the 

 markings is nearly the same. The rich golden-green of 

 aruana is replaced in this species by the brilliant green- 

 blue, and the singular patch of vegetable- or aruana-green 

 on the posterior Aving, as described above. By contrast 

 with the green-blue this colour seems most like that of 

 pegasus (Felder), while the gradations of colour and 

 opalescent tints in certain lights link it with Urvilliana 

 and crcesus on the one hand and priamus and pronomus 

 on the other. Possibly it is only a remarkable transi- 

 tional variety of aruana, but at present it is sufficiently 

 distinct to merit a distinguishing name ; and it goes far 

 towards enabling us to link together the whole of the 

 members of the Priamus-group and regard them as local 

 forms of the typical species priamus. 



30 



