i 4 J. N. ELIOT 



The mainland of New Guinea can be subdivided into four zones tending to produce 

 minor subspecies. Broadly similar zones were found by Brooks (1950 : 182) to 

 apply also to the Amathusiid genus Tenaris. The zones are as follows : — 



i. a western zone stretching westwards from the southernmost point of Geelvink 



Bay, including the inshore islands of Amberfron, Mioswar and Ron in Geelvink Bay, 



ii. a northern zone stretching from the southernmost point of Geelvink Bay 



eastwards almost as far as the Huon Peninsula, and including Jobi Island in Geelvink 



Bay, 



iii. a southern zone comprising the country south of the Snow Moutains as far 

 east as the Gulf of Papua, 



iv. an eastern zone, with similar forms continuing into the d'Entrecasteaux and 

 Trobriand Islands and the Louisade Archipelago. 



Of the remaining islands on the New Guinea shelf, Gebi, Waigiu, Mysol and the 

 Aru Is. produce forms which differ little from the New Guinea forms. Alone 

 among the inshore islands off the north coast, Dampier Island is remarkable in 

 that all three species which have been taken there occur as melanic subspecies. 

 The Schouten Islands, Mefor and the Key Islands, which are separated from New 

 Guinea by a deeper sea and must have been isolated longer, have fewer species 

 which occur in well differentiated subspecies. It is doubtful if any true Papuan 

 species occur in the Tenimber group. The four species occurring in N.E. Australia 

 show unexpectedly wide divergences from the New Guinea subspecies, bearing in 

 mind the shallowness and island-studded nature of the Torres Strait. 



The South Moluccas and the North Moluccas both possess only two Papuan 

 species. These are monomorphic in the former group but in the latter Pantoporia 

 venilia is polymorphic and Phaedyma heliopolis is dimorphic. In the former species 

 there are four clear-cut polymorphs : with very wide white markings ; with the 

 markings only half as wide ; with very narrow markings ; and with the markings 

 obsolete. It is possible to define subspecies for the component islands by the 

 frequency of occurrence of the different polymorphs ; for example in Obi the first 

 two occur in approximate equality, the third rarely, the fourth not at all ; in 

 Halmahera only the fourth is common, but the first and third also occur rarely ; 

 in Batj an only the first three occur, with the first as a rarity. In the case of 

 Phaedyma heliopolis the typical dimorph occurs unchanged in nearly all the islands 

 whilst the other dimorph, with wider markings, varies geographically. Dimorphism 

 also occurs in the Bismarck Archipelago in Phaedyma ampliata, but only in the 

 female sex. 



SEASONAL VARIATION 



Seasonal variation is well marked in appropriate areas, the dry season form having 

 wider pale markings and a paler and usually more ochreous underside ground colour. 

 Two exceptions to this rule are provided by the nominate subspecies of Neptis 

 hylas in China, in which the dry season form has narrower white markings and a 

 darker ground colour than the wet season form, and by Pantoporia hordonia in 

 which the orange markings are of a richer shade in the dry season form. 



