NOTES 
251 
is that, although much more intensive col- 
lecting has been done on the more easterly 
islands of Guadalcanal, Isabel, San Cristobal, 
and Malaita, this conspicuous metallic weevil 
was never taken on any of them. 
This local endemism, which is probably of 
relatively recent origin, is not comparable 
with the inter-insular variation recorded by 
Marshall (Roy. Ent. Soc. London, Trans. 87(3): 
69~101, 1938) for another genus of weevils 
{Elytrufus) from Fiji and the New Hebrides or 
various other insects found in the Marquesas 
(Mumford and Adamson, Congr. Internatl. 
Ent., Paris: 431-450, 1933) , as in these cases 
the islands are separated by varying but ex- 
tensive distances of open sea. 
Among the Lepidoptera one extreme case 
of aberration of a bird-winged butterfly can 
be cited, viz., Troides {Ornithoptera) victoriae 
ruhianus Roths. Among a series from Ganong- 
ga [published as Ranonga], one male had an 
unusually large green area on the forewing, 
other males showing a less extensive develop- 
ment (Dicksee, Roy. Ent. Soc. London, Proc. 
8: 144, 1934). As was remarked when these 
specimens were exhibited at a meeting of the 
Royal Entomological Society, it is strange 
that this Ganongga race should be so very 
variable as specimens from other islands near- 
by seemed to be constant in wing pattern. 
[The distribution of this butterfly is given in 
News 
Several meetings of general importance were 
held in Honolulu during the week of February 
16-21. 
The American Institute of Biological 
Sciences' Advisory Panel on Biology to the 
Office of Naval Research held its spring meet- 
ing at the University of Hawaii February 18 
and 19. In conjunction with this meeting the 
Hydrobiology Committee of the A.IB.S. met 
at the University on February 20. 
The annual meeting of the Invertebrate Con- 
sultants Committee for the Pacific, of the 
Pacific Science Board of the National Research 
Seitz {Macrolepidoptera of the World, vol. 9: 12, 
1927) as being Kolombangara Island and Ru- 
biana, the latter (also spelled Roviana) being 
used both for a village on the west of New 
Georgia and an island lying to the south of 
the main island.] 
Although the bulk of the writer's collec- 
tions of anisopterous Odonata were wide- 
ranging forms, a handsome new species taken 
in 1936, Agriocnemis salamonis Lieftinck (Treu- 
bia 20(2): 319-374, 1949), has recently been 
described from Ganongga, and it seems likely 
that adjacent islands will yield more new 
material from this neglected order. 
As few classes of animals have been inten- 
sively collected in this area, it is probable that 
many interesting varieties remain to be dis- 
covered although probably not in the Amphi- 
bia and Reptilia. These were thoroughly col- 
lected and reported on by the Burts {Amer. 
Mus. Nat. Hist., Bui. 63(5): 462-597). Only 
one snake {Denisonia woodfordii (Boul.)) is 
confined to New Georgia, and it shows no 
inter-insular variation. 
As the writer is no longer stationed in 
Melanesia, he has thought it desirable to pre- 
sent these few observations and thus draw 
attention to the intensive endemism to be 
found in this relatively small but very interest- 
ing area. — R. J. A. W. Lever, Department of 
Agriculture, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya. 
Notes 
Council, was held at the Experiment Station 
of the Sugar Planters’ Experiment Station, 
February 18 and 19. L. J. Dumbleton, Plant 
and Animal Quarantine Officer of the South 
Pacific Commission, stationed in Noumea, was 
an observer at the meeting. 
Book Notice 
Ekman, Sven. 1953. Zoogeography of the Sea. 
xiv+417 pp., 121 figs. Sidgwick and Jackson 
Limited, London. Distributed in the United 
States by The Macmillan Company, New 
York. $6.50. A revised English edition of a 
work originally published in German in 1935. 
