502 
ATTACUS. By Dr. A. Seitz. 
also in other respects the latter show transitions to the lorguini-iovm. — I know nothing about the stages; all 
the forms known, however, must belong to one species. The range extends from the easternmost part of the 
Louisiads across to New Guinea, especially the south of New Guinea and the part opposite to Australia. 
hercules. C. Hercules Misk. is the form from Northern Queensland, from which om/phale Btlr., described from New 
Ireland, being somewhat more reddish and without a distinct border of the antemedian transverse band, cannot 
curystheus. be separated. From the figured New Guinea form eurvstheus Rothsch. (52 a as hercules) the Australian typical 
hercules differ in having mostly larger hyaline spots on the wings, particularly the hindwings; but above all 
the show considerably more pointed forewings and longer tails on the hindwings; the tail-appendage of 
the typical hercules is mostly 1—2 cm longer than in the figured eurystheus which also occurs in Waigeu with 
heros. hardly any difference. — heros Rothsch. is a third form from'the Louisiad Archipelago, in which the hyaline spots 
buller i. are very small and somewhat more oval than triangular. — In ab. bufieri Rothsch. the hyaline spots are likewise 
hcmclides, small and situate somewhat nearer to the base of the wing; from German New Guinea. — in heraclides Joic. & 
Talb., from Dutch New Guinea (Wandammen Mts.), the interior band of the forewing is in its lower portion 
more oblicpie, it cuts vein 2 midway between the cell and the postdiscal band; its upper portion is only 3 V 2 mm 
distant from the black exterior edge of the eyespot which is twice as large in the fore wing as in the hindwing; 
moreover occur transitions of this form in the Arfak Mts. 
3. Genus: Attacus L. 
This genus comprises the largest lepidoptera in the world. Although their expanse is excelled by the 
Brazilian Noctuid Thysania agrippina, also some $$ of Ornithoptera ( goliath , alexandrae ) measure more from 
one apex of the forewings to the other, yet the extraordinary surface of the wings, at least in well developed, large 
specimens of atlas, is unmatched in the whole lepidoptera! and insect kingdom together. A $ of the lorguini- 
form has an expanse of 22 cm and also measures from the vertex of the costa (before the apex of the forewing) 
to the anal angle of the hindwing 18 cm, and the $ belonging to the lorquini-ioxm caesar, figured on pi. 54 a 
(denoted as lorquini), has not only an expanse of 24 cm, but it also measures 20 cm from the apex of the forewdng 
to the tornus of the hindwings. The scheme of markings of Attacus is very similar to that in the allied genera 
Coscinocera and Sarnia and it is very uniform in the different forms of the genus. The very great exterior 
resemblance between Attacus and the American Rothschildia, with which Attacus was formerly classed, might 
appear rather more conspicuous, but they differ structurally in important points. In both the genera (though 
also in Callosamia, Platysamia) the cross-vein is absent in all wings. The subcostal system of the forewdng, 
however, is opposite in the two genera. The first branch extends in Attacus unforked into the costa, whereas 
in Rothschildia it bifurcates a few millimeters before the apex in which it terminates. In the $ antennae of 
Attacus the branches uniformly decrease in length as far as the antennal apex, in Rothschildia they are suddenly 
shortened in the last quarter. The larval tubercles increase with the age in Attacus and are transformed into 
a thick cone, in Rothschildia they decrease and often disappear except for faint traces ( orizaba, jacohaeae) etc. 
Besides the two genera are geographically strictly separated. The Indian Attacus have been divided by branching- 
off the genus Archaeattacus Wts., the species with banded abdomina having been opposed to the species wdth 
unicoloured abdomina. In the genus Sarnia, however, which is closely allied to Attacus, it has been proved 
that, already by process of domestication, tufted hairing may be changed into band-marking, and the latter 
by the expansion of the bands into the unicoloured abdominal dorsum. We even suppose that, although nearly 
all the forms of Attacus have been regarded as distinct sjiecies, very few are entitled to this claim and nearly 
all the forms represent one another geographically. 
atlas. A. atlas L. (= ethra Oliv.) is the South Chinese form which, hardly and only occasionally modified (as 
silhetica Hlf.), also occurs in the Himalaya and in almost the whole of British India. The ground-colour is a 
bright deep red-brown, and only the marginal area of the $ shows larger yellow embeddings. The exterior 
transverse band of the fore wing lias a slight S-shape, the hyaline spot is more triangular in the A, whilst in 
the 2 it is larger and more roundish, particularly at its interior border. The two first abdominal rings exhibit 
broad white transverse bands, the others narrow ones. North Indian specimens almost invariably show another 
small accessory hyaline spot in an apical direction from the hyaline spot of the forewing, whilst in the likewise 
laprobanis. occasionally different Ceylon form —- taprobanis Mr. — it is usually absent or replaced by a mere dot. The 
central hyaline spots are also mostly very small. But already the southern atlas from the Nilgiri Hills are not 
to be distinctly defined from the Ceylon specimens; the Andamanic specimens have likewise been denominated 
macmullen (.separately (= macmulleni Wts.). — Javanese specimens, particularly females, mostly show a more yellowish- 
simalurana. brown ground-colour, though also dark A A occur there. — In simalurana Wts., described from Celebes, the distal 
transverse stripe of the forewing is strongly indented towards the base below the hyaline spot, and the distal 
crebus. stripe of the hindwing is more deeply arched between the veins. - — erebus Fruhst. is allied to this form, but it 
gladiator, shows a very deep brown ground-colour. — gladiator Fruhst., from Sumatra, is also similar to simalurana, 
but it differs in that the dark edging of the hyaline spots does not appear such a deep black. Moreover, the 
aurantiaca. Sunda specimens vary rather considerably, particularly in the shades of the ground-colour. — aurantiaca 
Rothsch. (= atlantis Strd .) (52 a as atlantis) is a very large form from the Key Is., without larger accessory 
