Volume 18, Plate I / Entomology (Insects)

Ornithoptera Priamus & O. Remus

1. Ornithoptera Priamus. The sexes differ so greatly they were long held distinct species; the male bears velvety black forewings with rich silky green stripes and an enclosed brownish spot, the hindwings green with black-margined circular spots and orange marks, the abdomen bright yellow. The female is considerably larger, nearly eight inches across, dark brown with whitish bands, and frequents the Mangifera Indica in the islands of Amboina, Rawack, and Ceram, where it is never numerous.
2. Ornithoptera Remus. Among the largest species, sometimes nearly eight inches across, with black forewings showing a slight greenish reflection and broad greyish-white stripes along the nervures, and hindwings dark grey above, shining white beneath with a black border broken by seven golden-yellow spots. In the female, here represented, those spots are larger and wedge-shaped, each but the outermost marked with a black oval; the abdomen is bright yellow spotted with black, and it is native to Amboina.