THE PAPILIONIDI. -^ 79 



the creature to walk over the stems and leaves of the plants, 

 which are more difficult to grasp than those of the Umbdlifercs. 

 These species may be compared with a swallow-tail from Bengal 

 {Papilio Hector^, which has its black wings spotted with white 

 and red. Its caterpillar has a very hard head, and its labrum 

 is deeply notched ; the mandibles are powerful, and are armed 

 with saw-like edges, and the legs are much more spined than 

 those of the other kinds. The Bengalese caterpillar evidently 

 crawls over vegetable tissues which are not easily climbed, and 

 lives upon large and hard leaves, and it is said that herbaceous 

 Aristolochiacem are its favourite food. This caterpillar's peculiar 

 structures relate distinctly to its habits. It has, however, two 

 rows of tubercles on the back, whilst the body of our species is 

 smooth. 



Several very closely-allied genera, which belong to the same 

 little group of Lepidoptera as the genus Papilio, are very 

 remarkable, for more reasons than one. The Oniithoptera are 

 readily distinguished by their great size, their strongly-formed 

 head, their long anterior wings, and their toothed hind ones 

 which have not a vestige of a swallow-tail ; they are magnifi- 

 cent butterflies, which inhabit the Moluccas, the Philippines, 

 and the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. Travellers in 

 Amboina are always struck with the beauty of the great 

 OniitJwptera Priainus, whose wings have a diameter of from 

 six to eight inches. The black velvety colour and the bril- 

 liant and silky green tints of the wings of the male are most 

 harmoniously contrasted, and he is a glorious fellow ; but the 

 female, although larger than its beautiful companion, is very 

 quietly clothed in deep brown with white spots. 



In most mountainous countries there are species of the 

 genus Paruassius, which have a short body, short antennae, and 

 wings as crisp as parchment, and almost without any scales 

 on their surfaces. The Paruassius Apollo is common during 

 the summer on the Alps, the Jura mountains, the Puy-de-D6me, 

 the Pyrenees, the Caucasus, and the Sierra Nevada ; and it 

 has rather a striking appearance, on account of its great white 

 wings being semi-transparent, spotted and dotted with black, and 

 ornamented with splashes of vermilion, surrounded by black tints, 



