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THE COMMON WHITE BUTTERFLY. 



butterfly, with two very long straight tails to its under wings. This insect belongs to the 

 genus Papilio, and is known by the name of Protesilaus. The colors of this species are 

 comparatively dull, but when examined, their soft contrasts are so pleasing to the eye, that 

 any change would only be for the worse. Above, the upper wings are partly transparent, a 

 large patch of white scales being set near their base. The under wings are mostly white, with 

 the exception of a little dash of scarlet on their inner edge, a few half moons of dull yellow 

 near their tips, and streaks of blackish-brown on their edges and along the centre of the tails. 

 On the under side is a little more variety, the shining transparent membrane of the upper 

 wings being crossed with dark bars, and the central stripe of the lower wings being edged with 

 scarlet. It is a native of Demerara. 



Our last example of this genus is the THOAS, a very striking insect, whose colors are 

 almost wholly black and yellow. This "insect is to be seen in the same illustration as the last, 

 and its colors can be well imagined from the fact that, excepting a very small spot of orange- 

 red on the inner edge of the lower wings, all the dark parts are black, and all the light are rich 

 yellow. Below, it is almost wholly yellow, but of an ochreous and duller cast. In Northern 

 Europe there exists but one acknowledged example of the genus Papilio. This is the beauti- 

 ful SWALLOW-TAILED BUTTERFLY (Papilio macTiaori), 

 a rare and brilliant creature. The flight of this insect 

 is rather high, swift, and straight. 



Two examples yet remain of the Papilionidpe. The 

 first is the very remarkable insect which is known by the 

 name of LEPTOCIRCUS, and which, until comparatively 

 late years, was as rare as it is singular. This insect is 

 not of great size, the expanded wings seldom exceeding 

 an inch and a half, and being usually rather less in their 

 measurement. The general color of this butterfly is 

 brown, with the exception of a moderately broad green- 

 ish band along the centre of the wings. In the female 

 the band is nearly colorless, and the light patch on the 

 upper wings is transparent. The under parts are nearly 

 of the same colors, except that the outer edges of the 

 tails are fringed with a narrow line of glittering white, 

 like burnished silver. The insect is a native of Siam 

 and Java. 



Lastly, we come to the prettily-marked Thais, one 

 of a genus of Papilionidse, which can always be known 

 by the peculiar markings of their wings. The colors are, 

 in all the species, yellow, black, and red, and the wings 

 are edged with a series of bold festooned marks. The 

 inner edges of the hinder wings are deeply scooped, as 

 if to permit free motion of the abdomen. 



WE now come to another family, called the Pieridse, 

 EGGS> which may be known at once by the manner in which 

 the inner edges of the hinder wings are folded, so as 



to form a kind of gutter in which the abdomen rests. In all these insects, the colors are 

 comparatively sober, the upper surface being generally white and black, and the under surface 

 sparingly colored with red and yellow. Our accompanying illlustration represents the COM- 

 MON WHITE BUTTERFLY. It is a true representative of the family Pierida?, as well as the 

 Brimstone Butterfly, the harbinger of spring ; all the Marbled Butterflies, the Orange-tip, and 

 the now scarce Veined-white, which last-mentioned insect belongs to the typical genus. The 

 EPICHARIS is almost wholly white and black above, a slight tinge of rose-color appearing on 

 the lower edge of the hinder wings, and being due to the rich orange-red spots on the under 



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