4 ' European Butterflies axd Moths. 



GENUS III. — DORITIS (KABR.). 

 May be distinguished from the following genus, to wliich it is closely allied, by the shorter 

 palpi, the curved club of the antenna:, and the absence of a horny pouch in the female. The 

 only species, D. Apolliniis (Herbst.), measures about 2 or 2 J- inches across the fore-wings, which 

 are semi-transparent, and whitish, dusted with dark grey ; there are two large black spots on 

 the costa. Hind-wings rounded, yellowish, with a marginal row of black eye-spots with blue 

 centres, and an inner row of red lunules. The larva is black, spotted with red, and lives on 

 Aristolochia in April. The butterfly, which is figured at PI. 2, Fig. 6, is found in the mountains 

 of Asia Minor, and in some of the Greek Islands, in February and March. 



GENUS IV. — PARNASSIUS (LATR.). 



Large white or yellow butterflies, with rounded wings, semi-transparent at the edges, nearly 

 always with at least two black spots on the costa of the fore-wings, and two round red spots 

 on the hind-wings. The palpi are hairy, and longer than in Doritis ; the antennae are short, 

 with a straight club ; the body is stout and hairy, and the abdomen of the female is furnished 

 with a singular horny pouch. The larvae are covered with fine down, and are all very much 

 alike, being black, with red, orange, or yellow spots, and the pupae are enclosed in a slight 

 cocoon. They feed on different species of Saxifrage. There are nearly thirty species known, 

 inhabiting the mountains of Europe, except the north-west ; Asia, to the Himalayas and Japan ; 

 and Western North America, from Alaska to California ; but many species are very rare in 

 collections. 



1. P. Apollo (Linn.). — White, fore-wings with several large black spots, one of which is 

 placed near the inner margin. Hind-wings with two large red eye-spots, white in the centre 

 and enclosed in black rings ; under-side with several more red spots ; antennae whitish. 

 Expands from 2 to 4 inches. The largest specimens come from Siberia. Common in the 

 mountains of Europe and Northern Asia. It has been reputed British, but is believed not to 

 occur in Britain, nor in the adjacent portion of North-Western Europe, the nearest known 

 locality being Scandinavia, in one direction, and the mountains of the lower Moselle in 

 another. It is found all over Spain ; but no insects belonging to the mountain fauna of Europe 

 are met with in the mountains of North Africa. Attempts to introduce it in localities where 

 it is not indigenous have hitherto failed, though the food-plant {Scduiii tclcpliium) was 

 plentiful. It is found in June, July, and August, and its flight is low and somewhat heavy. 

 At a short distance it much resembles the Black-veined White Butterfly on the wing. The 

 larva is found in May and June. The insect is figured in all stages at PI. 3, Fig. i, a — d. 



2. P. Phabus (Fabr.), {Dclius, Esp.). — Very like the last, but smaller, measuring from 2\ to 

 2^ inches across. The black spots of the fore-wings are smaller, and one or more are often 

 marked with red ; that on the inner margin is frequently absent in the male. The antennas 

 are ringed with black and white. Found in the Alps at a much greater elevation than Apollo 

 in July. It is also found throughout Northern Asia ; and some of the Himalayan and 

 Californian Parnassii have been considered varieties of this insect. In Europe it is a much 

 scarcer and more local insect than Apollo, and the larva, which may also be found in Jul}-, 

 appears to be almost amphibious, frequenting very wet places ; and the pupa must be liable 

 to long-continued immersion in water. The butterfly is figured at PI. 3, Fig. 2. P. Nordmanni 

 (Menetr.), found in the Caucasus, differs from this in having only two black spots on the fore- 

 wings above, and no red spots at the base of the hind-wings beneath. 



