328 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



110. Papilio dissimilis, Linnaeus. This is a very good mimic of 

 Danais Umniace, but the ground-colour is more yellow than blue. 

 It is probable that this and P. panope, which is as good a mimic of 

 Euplcea core, are one and the same species. The ground-colour in 

 P. dissimilis is pale yellow, in P. panope it is deep brown. They 

 both have the habit of settling on the extreme end of dry twigs just 

 the same as do the butterflies they mimic. When startled, their flight 

 is rapid and powerful, otherwise it resembles that of D. Umniace and 

 E. core in its ease, elegance, and general demeanour of lazy grace- 

 fulness. They are both tailless species. 



111. Papilio panope, Linnaeus. This insect has been touched 

 upon in the preceding paragraph. 



112. Papilio erithonius, Cramer. This is a very common butter- 

 fly, almost rivalling the genus Oatopsilia in its ubiquity. It is a very 

 handsome insect, and resembles superficially the English " swallow- 

 tail," P. machaon. The colours are the same, but somewhat 

 differently disposed, the black prevailing more than in the English 

 butterfly. It, however, lacks the series of blue spots on the hind wing, 

 which is such an attractive feature in P. machaon, and also has no 

 tail to the hindwing. The larva affects the trees of the orange tribe, 

 and a careful search is sure to reveal some of them on any orange^ 

 lime, pomolo or citron tree in the garden. When young it resem- 

 bles the droppings of some small bird, but after the second or third 

 change of skin it assumes a dark green colour like the leaf it feeds 

 on, and is marked transversely with dark bars relieved by white. 

 When irritated the caterpillar, in common I believe with all others 

 of this genus, has the power of protruding from a point just behind 

 the head — the nape of the neck as it were — a forked process of a red- 

 dish colour and translucent. It looks like a bit of coloured gelatine, 

 and is flexible and covered with a moist exudation of a peculiar and 

 penetrating odour, somewhat resembling the scent of oranges. It 

 also feeds on a common weed called Bemchi or Bewachi in this part 

 of India by the country people. The botanical name of this plant 

 is Psoralea coryllifolia, and it grows plentifully upon the bunds of 

 tanks. It is a marked feature in the larvae of the "swallow-tails" 

 that they are all found feeding on the upper surface of leaves. It 

 would appear as if there were two varieties of this butterfly, — one a 



