PAPILIONID^. 343 



When fresh from the chrysalu with its velvety wings in the 

 height of perfection, there are very few insects more beautiful than 

 this. The graceful shape of the insect, with the delicately tinted 

 green stripes across the wings between the bars of dark brown and 

 black, and the touches of blue and red on the lower wings, make it 

 exceedingly attractive, and the young collector is likely to feel a 

 thrill of pleasure as he takes from his net the hrst perfect specimen. 

 It is a rare butterfly in New England, but is occasionally taken in 

 the lower Connecticut valley. Throughout the middle and western 

 states, ranging as far west as tlie Rocky Mountains, and in the south, 

 it is a common butterfly. I have had many small and brilliantly 



Chrysalis of Papilio ajax. 



colored specimens from Florida and have collected large and fine 

 ones in southern Ohio. Near Chillicothe, Ohio, it is exceedingly 

 abundant during the summer, where it may be seen flying along the 

 roads and paths by tlie river or alighting in the fields of clover. 



A week's collecting during July, on the banks of the Little 

 Miami River, near Fort Ancient in southern Ohio, where I procured, 

 among others, many grand insects of this species, I remember as one 

 of my pleasantest experiences in butterfly hunting. It is a grand 

 localit}^ for collecting, and the fertile valley, with its groves of large 

 forest trees and fine farms, makes it an ideal spot for a short stay. 

 The butterflies were most numerous along the banks of the little 

 river and Papilio ajar, with its tails looking like streamers attached 

 to its lower wings, was one of the most abundant species. 



The food plant of the larva is the paw paw, and with caution the 

 female butterfly could be approached and watched while she deposi- 

 ted her eggs singly on the under side of the leaves. The plants 



