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Show 140 MESSRS. SALVIN AND GODMAN ON [Feb. 20, to this he has since made some additions (P.Z.S. 1875, p. 610). In this list he includes the species mentioned by Montrouzier in his article on the Butterflies of Woodlark Island, and also the few included in 'The Entomology of the Voyage of the 'Coquille,'' from New Ireland. But Woodlark Island is very properly included in the Papuan fauna by Mr. Wallace ; and New Ireland also belongs to the same fauna, as seems evident from the present collection. At least 27 species are included in Mr. Butler's list from these localities ; and deducting them from the total of 104 species, we have 77 as the number of species at present known to inhabit the South- Sea Islands beyond the immediate influence of New Guinea. To these must be added the 23 additional species mentioned in Mr. Butler's second paper, making a total of 100. Very much remains to be done before any thing like a complete knowledge of the Butterflies of the South-Sea Islands is acquired; but it would seem that these islands can hardly fail to present a comparatively poor Lepidopterous fauna ; and, judged by this standard, N e w Britain and the adjoining islands certainly cling to the richer fauna of New Guinea. Of the genera in the present collection not found in the South- Sea Islands proper, we have Cynthia, Rhinopalpa, Cethosia, Cyrestes, Minetra, Pithecops, and Ornithoptera; whilst, of the remainder, Drusilla is a very characteristic New-Guinea form, represented in Otaheite by a single species, and the rest are all more or less widely ranging genera. It is unfortunate that in making this collection Mr. Brown has not noted the particular island where each specimen was captured. The presence in it of two such distinct species of Ornithoptera as O. aruana and O. urvilliana is suggestive; and it seems very probable that the former was obtained in N e w Britain and the latter in New Ireland. As O. aruana has a very wide range, and the latter, as far as we yet know, an extremely limited one, it seems quite possible that the faunas of these two islands may differ more inter se than might be expected from the proximity of the two shores. We hope that Mr. Brown will be able to clear up this point, as it is one well worthy of investigation. A considerable number of the species in the present collection differ in a slight degree from their representatives from Western New Guinea and the adjoining islands. This is hardly surprising, seeing the wide interval of several hundred miles which intervenes between New Britain and the point previously investigated. Some of these races we have described in the present paper; others we leave until the receipt of additional specimens shows more clearly the extent to which they differ. The nearest point to New Britain which has had its Butterflies examined is Woodlark Island. This island is situated on the north side of the Louisiade archipelago, in about 9° S. lat., and 153° E. long. It remained undiscovered until 1836, but has since been visited by French missionaries, one of whom, M. Montrouzier, having made a small collection of Butterflies, described them in 1856 in the 'Annales des Sciences Phys. et Nat. de Lyon,' Unfor* |