A brief historical account of an endemic swallowtail butterfly first collected a century ago on Goodenough Island (D'Entrecasteaux group) in Papua New Guinea. Issue 1 (April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tennent, W. J.; Mitchell, D. K.
• Is Part Of: Archives of natural history. Volume 44:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 159
• Page End: 169
• Publication Date: 2017-04
• Subjects: Graphium weiskei goodenovii -- historical butterfly collection -- A. S. Meek -- D. Jenness -- early twentieth century; Natural history -- History -- Periodicals; 508.09005
• DOI: 10.3366/anh.2017.0424
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0260-9541

Abstract

Abstract : Graphium weiskei goodenovii Rothschild, 1915 (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) has been known for over a century only from two male specimens: one in the Natural History Museum, London; the other in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH). Endemic to Goodenough Island, in the D'Entrecasteaux group, Papua New Guinea, it was first collected on the summit of 'Oiamadawa'a (Mount Madawaa, Mount Madara'a) in 1912 by New Zealand anthropologist Diamond Jenness. The second specimen, which became the holotype, was collected in mountains in the south of the island by Albert Stewart Meek, one of Walter, Lord Rothschild's most prolific collector/explorers for his museum at Tring in Hertfordshire. In each case, capture of specimens was sufficiently notable to be recorded contemporaneously by the captors. These data, and maps and photographs made by the collectors suggest that the butterfly was widespread at moderate to high elevations on Goodenough Island. The authors climbed 'Oiamadawa'a in 2015 and collected further specimens, now deposited in OUMNH.