PAPILIO VIII. 



upper surface of the leaf near the edge, where it is exposed to the full force of 

 the sun's heat. On the lOtli July, I found young larvae, about ten days old, 

 feeding on the upper cuticle of the leaf To procure the complete history of 

 this Papilio, it would be necessary for an entomologist to remain on the island 

 from May till August. I arrived at Ellis Bay on 14th June, and left at the end 

 of July. Therefore I had no chance of obtaining a chrysalis, which could only 

 be had in the first week in August. I took the largest caterpillars I could find 

 before I left, and which had passed their last moult. By the time the adult larvae 

 are ready to go into chrysalis, the weather becomes cold, and the larvoe at the 

 beo-inniu"- of Auo;ust are of various sizes. The undergrown ones hide in the leaves 

 of their food-plants during the cold nights, and feed during the day, and by the 

 middle of the month, probably, all have matured and changed to chrysalids." 

 Mr. Couper writes again, April, 1875: " Brevicauda was sent me last season from 

 Perce, in the district of Gaspe, on the south coast of the Gulf, opposite Anti- 

 costi, and about seventy miles sea distance from that island. It occurs to me 

 that as the western portion of Newfoundland is only one hundred miles from the 

 east end of Anticosti, the butterfly may occasionally cross over. But after all 

 my correspondence with two intelligent gentlemen in Newfoundland, I cannot 

 obtain a specimen taken there. Although long resident, these gentlemen have 

 never seen Brevicauda. I believe Anticosti to be the true home of the species." 

 And later, " Two specimens o^ Brevicauda have been taken this summer at God- 

 bout River, on the north side of the St. Lawrence." 



In the Ent. Mo. Mag. for April, 1875, p. 244, Vol. XL, is a mention by Mr. 

 H. W. Bates, of Brevicauda, as taken by Mr. Milne, at Betts Cove and Terra 

 Nova River, Ncwfomidland. 



It is surprising that a new species of Papilio should be discovered at this late 

 day on the Atlantic coast, and great credit is due Mr. Couper for the pains he 

 has taken to elucidate its life-history. It stands midway between two groups, 

 that of Machaon, represented on this continent by its variety Aliaska and by 

 Zolicaon on the one hand, and Asterias and its allies on the other. It resembles 

 Aliaska in shape, the fore wings being less elongated than in Asterias, and their 

 hind margins being convex instead of straight or concave. The hind wings are 

 also less elongated, and the tails are shorter, and are like those of Aliaska. More- 

 over, the sexes are alike in color and markings, as is the rule with all the 3Ia- 

 chaon group, but not with Asterias, in which the difference between the sexes in 

 these respects is conspicuous. But the basal area of the hind wings is black, as 

 in Asterias, whereas in the other group it is yellow ; and the abdomen is marked 

 by rows of yellow dots as in Asterias also, while in Machaon and its allies the 

 abdomen is striped longitudinally with black and yellow. The yellow bands of 

 the wings are similtirly disposed in both groups, but their suflusion witli fulvous 



