( 687 ) 



2. Papilio alis' ampUssimis, Jlavicante et nigra coloiihus pulcherrime 

 vai-iegatis, interiorihus caudatis, major Virginiana. Diurnarum prima, omnium 

 maxima., Monffet. Theat. Insect, ji. 98. 



Haec praecedenti,* excepta magnitudine, qna earn excellit, simillima est, ut 



dnbitem an accidentaliter potius qnam specifice, lit vocant, alj ea differat : 



ideoque qnamvis exotica sit, a praecedeute minime separandam censemus. 



Mouflfet's ligure referred to by Ray is a bad representation of a yellow P. glaucus. 



The figure is very large, the apex of the forewing being produced into a long acute 



hook, and the tail being long, curved and pointed. Liiin6 says of ajax : alis obtuse (!) 



caudatis. 



The second reference under Linne's ajax is Edwards, Nat. Hist. Birds i. t. 34. 

 The insect here represented is the Asimina Swallowtail. The anal spot is 

 expressly described in the text as being bright red, while Licnd calls that spot of 

 ajax fulvous, as in the case of machaon. How is it that Linne' quotes this figure 

 under ajax, althongh it does not at all conform to the description ? We think it was 

 a mere oversight ; he did not mean to put the reference to Edwards's figure under 

 ajax but under protesilaus, as appears to us proved by the description of protesilaus 

 and the various references given by Linnd under that heading. The description of 

 protesilaus and the references are in Sg.st. Nat. ed. x. p. 463, as follows : 



Protesilaus. 29. P.E. alis caudatis snbconcoloribus albidis : fasciis fnscis : 

 unica subtus sanguinea, angulo ani rubro. 

 Pet. Mus. 50. n. 502. 

 Sloan, jam. 2. p. 218. t. 239./. I. 2. 

 Mer. surin. 43. f. 43. 

 Sed. mus. 1. t. U ./. 2. 

 Catesb. car. 2. t. "luO. 

 Habitat in America septentrionali. 



Sinillimus Podalirio Europae australis </• Africae ; an satis dicersus'^ 

 Now, the first citation under protesilaus (Petiver) and the last quotation 

 (Catesby) refer both to recognisable descriptions and figures of the North American 

 Asimina Swallowtail ! 1 Meriau's figure rej)resents the white South American insect 

 usually known by the name oi protesilaus. Seba's and Catesby's figures represent 

 some species of the Nymphalid genus 2l/i"_^«/«ra. Since Linne considered all these 

 insects as being one species — which, moreover, was in his opinion only doubtfully 

 distinct from the European podalirius — is it likely that he believed Edwards's 

 figure to represent a diflerent species ? An unambiguous answer is given by Linne 

 in Mus. Lud. Ulr. p. 209 (1764). In this work, in which a page is devoted to each 

 species of Lepidoptera, the descriptions being fsir superior to those in Sg.<st. Nat., 

 the figure of Edwards is quoted under protesilaus I, where it ought to have been 

 quoted also in Sgst. Nat. 



Perhaps the most striking evidence that Linne himself treated the Parsnip 

 Swallowtail as being ajax is offered in the 12th edition of Syst. Nat. Here the 

 Eastern Palaearctic P. xutlius is described on p. 751, being placed after P. machaon, 

 while P. ajax is placed before P. machaon. This P. xuthus Linne describes as 

 being very similar to p. ajax (" simillimns P. ajaci "). Now, P. xuthus is utterly 

 different from the Asimina Swallowtail, while it resembles P. machaon as well as 

 the Parsnip Swallowtail. 



Considering all this evidence without bias, it appears to us to be beyond doubt 



* Namelv, machaon. 



