THE PAPILIONIDT. 77 



The swallow tail Papilio viacJiaon is a well known butter- 

 fly in England, France, and the rest of Europe ; it is also found 

 in Asia as far as the Himalayas, and even in South Africa. 

 Every one has seen it flying in the fields and resting on the milk 

 parsley and other umbelliferous plants, and has admired its great 

 size, its yellow wings, marked and splashed with black, and its 

 hinder ones so beautifully ornamented with a row of eye-shaped 

 spots of light blue. The butterfly appears for the first time 

 every year in the month of May and a second time in the month 

 of July. 



A very pretty caterpillar, about an inch and a half in length, 

 may be found on the wild fennel and carrot plants during June 

 and September. It is of a very vivid green colour, and is orna- 

 mented with black velvety rings and large dabs of . a reddish 

 fawn colour. 



When this caterpillar — which is that of Papilio niachaon — is 

 quietly browsing upon its favourite plant, it resembles many 

 others, and there is nothing very remarkable about the insect ; but 

 if it be touched it suddenly pokes out a spotted tentacule from 

 between the head and the first segment of the body, and there 

 being one on each side, they look like horns. Doubtless the 

 insect believes that its enemies are alarmed by this proceeding, 

 and a faint smell is certainly produced at the same time. These 

 horns are common in the caterpillars of the genus Papilio. The 

 caterpillar of Papilio machaon has rather a small head, the skin 

 of which is not much harder than that of the rest of the body. 

 It feeds upon soft leaves, and the mandibles are weak and their 

 cutting edge is not toothed. The upper lip or labrum is not 

 split, but simply notched, and this indicates that the insect 

 browses upon small leaves or upon those which are very " com- 

 pound," as the botanists have it, and which do not require to be 

 held steadily whilst the masticating is going on. The mem- 

 branous legs of this caterpillar are evidently admirably adapted 

 for a larva that crawls upon easily grasped stems and twigs. 

 They end in an inner margin, which is covered with spines, and 

 in an outer, which is furnished with little hairs that materially 

 assist the sense of touch. 



There are two caterpillars of Papilio machaon represented 



