THE SUHFAMIl.Y IWrilJOXINAK. 1221 



bent backward at a iircater or less angle with the posterior lialf. Mesotliorax witli a 

 central, elevatoil, posteriorly appressed prominence. Toiij^ue reaching the tip of the 

 wings; antennae falling considerably short of thcni. The girt passes across the middle 

 of the metathorax. 



Distribution and general characteristics. Tliis subfamily is almost 

 as widely spread as the Pierinae, and, with the exception of a few genera 

 is also decidedly tr()[)ical. "South America, North India and the Malay 

 Islands arc tiic rcoions where the.sc fine insects occur in the greatest profu- 

 sion and where they actually become a not unimportant feature in the 

 scenery'" (AVallace, Nat. selection, 140). One genus, however, Parnas- 

 sius, is found only at liigh elevations in the temperate zone. Among the 

 tropical genera probably none are conunon to the Old and New Worlds, 

 but nearly all the others are found in both though only one or two species 

 are believed to be identical ; the Old "World is somewhat richer in generic 

 and specific types. 



The butterflies are almost always large and as a rule conform to a single 

 type, long and unfortiuiately still known under the name of "Papilio," in 

 which group the hind wings of most of the species are provided with long, 

 slender, tail-like extensions of one or more of the median nervules, which 

 h.as gained for tiiem tlie popular name of "swallow-tails." With the ex- 

 ception of a few genera which resemble the Pierinae in their black mark- 

 ings on a pale (white or yellow) ground, most of the butterflies are black, 

 the hind wings and sometimes the fore wings provided above with large, 

 submarginal spots of various colors, generally more variegated at the anal 

 angle: beneath, the hind wings are often still more gaily painted with 

 large lumdes and patches of bright metallic tints of purple, blue and green. 

 Wallace writes of the giant East Indian Ornithopterae, they "may be fre- 

 quently seen about the borders of the cultivated and forest districts, their 

 large size, stately flight and gorgeous colouring rendering them even more 

 conspicuous than the generality of birds." (Nat. selection, 140.) And 

 Hooker in his Himalayan journals speaks enthusiastically of the butterflies 

 of this group in the tropics : "By far the most striking feature," says he, 

 "consisted in the amazing quantity of superb butterflies, large, tropical 

 swallow-tails, black, with scarlet or yellow eyes on their wings. They were 

 seen everywhere sailing majestically through the still, hot air, or fluttering 

 from one scorching rock to another, and especially loving to settle on the 

 damp sand of the river edge; where they sat by tliousands, with erect 

 wings, balancing themselves with a rocking motion, as their heavy sails in- 

 clined themselves to one side or the other ; resembling a crowded fleet 

 of yachts on a calm day." This habit of assembling is shown in none of 

 our species so strongly as in Jasoniades glaucus, instances of which will be 

 given further on. 



The relative position of this group has already been discussed under the 



