This Table shows the great affinity of the Malayan with the Indian Papilionidæ, only three out of the twenty groups ranging beyond, into Africa, Europe, or America. The limitation of groups to the Indo-Malayan or Austro-Malayan divisions of the archipelago, which is so well marked in the higher animals, is much less conspicuous in insects, but is shown in some degree by the Papilionidæ. The following groups
are either almost or entirely restricted to one portion of the archipelago:—
| Indo-Malayan Region. | Austro-Malayan Region. |
|---|---|
| Nox-group. | Priamus-group. |
| Coon-group. | Ulysses-group. |
| Macareus-group (nearly). | Erechtheus-group. |
| Paradoxa-group. | |
| Dissimilis-group (nearly). | |
| Brookeanus-group. | |
| Leptocircus (genus). |
The remaining groups, which range over the whole archipelago, are, in many cases, insects of very powerful flight, or they frequent open places and the sea-beach, and are thus more likely to get blown from island to island. The fact that three such characteristic groups as those of Priamus, Ulysses, and Erechtheus are strictly limited to the Australian region of the archipelago, while five other groups are with equal strictness confined to the Indian region, is a strong corroboration of that division which has been founded almost entirely on the distribution of Mammalia and Birds.