( 406 ) 



i). Papilio polytes ; f. 1 7 to 37. 



Tlic male sex of tliis iusi-ct is in the pattern of the wiug not very varialile, while 

 the female exhibits a very great amount of individual and local variation. The 

 species ranges in a good number of subspecies over the Indian and Malayan Sub- 

 regions, and goes as far as the Moluccas; in New Guinea, the Arn Islands, 

 Queensland, and the islands farther east it is represented by /'. amhrax an 1 P. 

 p/iestiis respectively. 



The valre is more or less triangular (f. 17 and ;!lj, and varies individually. 

 The harpe has the same josition as in /'. aegens; it is a ventral InnL'itndinal fold; the 

 basal half (or so) is stick -like, while the apical ])ortion is abruptly raised into a thin 

 blade, which leans over dorsally so that its ventral surface is visible when the valve 

 is viewed with the eye above the plane of the valve (as in f. 17 and 31); the 

 harpe thus has the appearance of a liatchet; the upper free edge of the blade is ver}' 

 finely denticulate; the tip of the blade projects free for a short distance, and is some- 

 what curved dorsally, often forming a blunt hook. The outline of the harpe varies 

 according to locality and to the individual specimen. 



a. r. poll/tea polfftex from N.W. India to Malacca. Natuna Islands, Tonkin; 

 f. 17 to 26. 



The blade of the harpe is highest near its basal (subperpeudicular) edge, 

 where it is slightly angulate ; a second, more distinct, angle is formed just before 

 the edge slopes down towards the apex of the harpe. The apex is scarcely produced 

 or very slightly so. The degree of variation found by us in the specimens from 

 Continental India is represented by f. 18 to 21. 



The form of the harpe as shown in f. IS is that found in most specimens ; the 

 figure is taken from a Kumaon individual (canglit in .June ISOH). Tlic blade of the 

 harpe of the individual from Bankipore (caj)tnred Marcli 2(>th, 1S03) (f. 19) is 

 much less steep basally than usual, its dorsal edge being much reduced in length ; 

 the two angles are conspicuous. The two Burmese (Bassein) examples from which 

 f. 20 and 21 are drawn are especially remarkable for tlie develojinjcnt of the free 

 apical jirojection. 



In external features P. poli/tes from the Natuna Islands (between Malacca and 

 Borneo) forms a transition from polytes polijtes to poh/ten theseus. From a long 

 series of individuals examined (captured by A. Everett in September and October 

 1893) the three most diflerent harpes are here figured (f 24, 2.5, 20); tlie blade 

 agrees very well in shape with that of Indian indiriduals. The thin carina running 

 from the upper edge of the handle of the harjie along the base of the Idade varies 

 from being absent to being well marked. 



b. P. polijtcs borealis from Cliina. 



All the specimens examined agree in the harpes with pohjtcs poli/tes. The 

 individuals of the interesting variety P. polijtes borealis c?-ab. t/iibeta?ius, in which 

 the white discal markings of tlie hindwing are jiartly obliterated, also do not exhibit 

 any peculiarity in the genital armature. 



As said in Mr. Kothschild's Revision of the Eastern Papilios, the specimens of 

 P. polytes from the Loo CJhoo Islands (south of Japan) stand intermediate in pattern 

 between /'. poli/tes borealis and the Malayan P. pob/tes thescus. The harpe of the 

 IjOO C\\oo poli/tcs i^ in so far remarkable tiiat it difiers from tlic baqie ol poh/tes 



