On the phenomena of variation and geographical distribution as illustrated by the Papilionidæ of the Malayan regionWallace, Alfred Russel
Science
On the phenomena of variation and geographical distribution as illustrated by the Papilionidæ of the Malayan region
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Papilionidae -- Malaysia -- Geographical distribution; Papilionidae -- Malaysia -- Variation
This summary of the more interesting phenomena of variation presented by
the eastern Papilionidæ is, I think, sufficient to substantiate my
position, that the Lepidoptera are a group that offer especial
facilities for such inquiries; and it will also show that they have
undergone an amount of special adaptive modification rarely equalled
among the more highly organized animals. And, among the Lepidoptera, the
great and pre-eminently tropical families of Papilionidæ and Danaidæ
seem to be those in which complicated adaptations to the surrounding
organic and inorganic universe have been most completely developed,
offering in this respect a striking analogy to the equally
extraordinary, though totally different, adaptations which present
themselves in the _Orchideæ_, the only family of plants in which mimicry
of other organisms appears to play any important part, and the only one
in which striking cases of polymorphism occur; for such we must consider
to be the male, female, and hermaphrodite forms of _Catasetum
tridentatum_, which differ so greatly in form and structure that they
were long considered to belong to three distinct genera.
_Arrangement and Geographical Distribution of the Malayan_ Papilionidæ.
Although the species of Papilionidæ inhabiting the Malayan region are
very numerous, they all belong to three out of the nine genera into
which the family is divided. One of the remaining genera (_Eurycus_) is
restricted to Australia, and another (_Teinopalpus_) to the Himalayan
Mountains, while no less than four (_Parnassius_, _Doritis_, _Thais_,
and _Sericinus_) are confined to Southern Europe and to the
mountain-ranges of the Palæarctic region.
The genera _Ornithoptera_ and _Leptocircus_ are highly characteristic of
Malayan entomology, but are uniform in character and of small extent.
The genus _Papilio_, on the other hand, presents a great variety of
forms, and is so richly represented in the Malay islands, that more than
one-fourth of all the known species are found there. It becomes
necessary, therefore, to divide this genus into natural groups before we
can successfully study its geographical distribution.
Owing principally to Dr. Horsfield’s observations in Java, we are
acquainted with a considerable number of the larvæ of Papilios; and
these furnish good characters for the primary division of the genus into
natural groups. The manner in which the hinder wings are plaited or
folded back at the abdominal margin, the size of the anal valves, the
structure of the antennæ, and the form of the wings are also of much
service, as well as the character of the flight and the style of
coloration. Using these characters, I divide the Malayan Papilios into
four sections, and seventeen groups, as follows:—
Genus ORNITHOPTERA.
a. _Priamus_-group. Black and green.
b. _Pompeus_-group. Black and yellow.
c. _Brookeanus_-group.
Genus PAPILIO.
A. Larvæ short, thick, with numerous fleshy tubercles; purplish.
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