Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection: A Series of EssaysWallace, Alfred Russel
Science
Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection: A Series of Essays
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Natural selection
It thus appears that every species of Papilio exhibits this peculiar
form in a greater or less degree, except one, P. Polyphontes, allied to
P. Diphilus of India and P. Polydorus of the Moluccas. This fact I
shall recur to again, as I think it helps us to understand something of
the causes that may have brought about the phenomenon we are
considering. Neither do the genera Ornithoptera and Leptocircus exhibit
any traces of this peculiar form. In several other families of
Butterflies this characteristic form reappears in a few species. In the
Pieridae the following species, all peculiar to Celebes, exhibit it
distinctly:--
1. Pieris Eperia compared with P. Coronis (Java).
2. Thyca Zebuda " " Thyca Descombesi
(India).
3. T. Rosenbergii " " T. Hyparete (Java).
4. Tachyris Hombronii " " T. Lyncida.
5. T. Lycaste " " T. Lyncida.
6. T. Zarinda " " T. Nero (Malacca).
7. T. Ithome " " T. Nephele.
8. Eronia tritaea " " Eronia Valeria
(Java).
9. Iphias Glaucippe, var. " " Iphias Glaucippe
(Java).
The species of Terias, one or two Pieris, and the genus Callidryas do
not exhibit any perceptible change of form.
In the other families there are but few similar examples. The following
are all that I can find in my collection:--
Cethosia AEole compared with Cethosia Biblis (Java).
Eurhinia megalonice " " Eurhinia Polynice
(Borneo).
Limenitis Limire " " Limenitis Procris
(Java).
Cynthia Arsinoe, var. " " Cynthia Arsinoe (Java,
Sumatra, Borneo)
All these belong to the family of the Nymphalidae. Many other genera of
this family, as Diadema, Adolias, Charaxes, and Cyrestis, as well as the
entire families of the Danaidae, Satyridae, Lycaenidae, and Hesperidae,
present no examples of this peculiar form of the upper wing in the
Celebesian species.
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