392 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 5 



Africa or Europe. They are especially abundant in the Tropics, 

 and do not extend so far to the northward as do the fluted swal- 

 lowtails. 



In America none of the Aristolochia swallowtails are very large, 

 and none are very striking in appearance. It is in southeastern 

 Asia and thence eastward through the Malayan archipelago and 

 southward to Australia that the largest and finest of these butterflies 

 are found. Especially in New Guinea and on the surrounding is- 

 lands they reach a size exceeding that of any other butterflies and 

 at the same time a brilliance and diversity of color unsurpassed by 

 any other butterflies elsewhere. 



These gorgeous giants of the group have commonly been sep- 

 arated from the other swallowtails and treated as a special genus 

 called Troides or Ornithoptera (pi. 1, fig. 1). But the differences 

 between them and the other Aristolochia swallowtails are so very 

 slight as to render such treatment quite impracticable. Excepting 

 only for their larger size, their caterpillars and chrysalids are quite 

 like those of the other species of the section. Several magnificent 

 kinds are fomid only on New Guinea. Among these is the largest 

 of all butterflies, the great Papilio alexandrae, of which the dingy 

 blackish female measures slightly more than 10l^ inches across 

 the wings. The male, which has curious narrow rounded wings, 

 is also very large, 81^ inches in expanse, and also very handsome, 

 metallic green shading to metallic blue and marked with black. 



In some of the Aristolochia swallowtails the males have a strong 

 and pleasant odor. This is especially noticeable in the common 

 Papilio aristolochiae of southern Asia, which because of its fragrance 

 is known as the " rose-butterfly ", and in Papilio devilliers of Cuba 

 and southern Florida (pi. 11, figs. 51, 52), which is strongly scented 

 with a delicious perfume resembling that of a fragrant orchid. 



OUR NATIVE ARISTOLOCHIA SWALLOWTAILS 



Ranging over most of the United States, but commonest in the 

 southeastern section, where in certain regions it is the most numerous 

 of all the swallowtails, we find the blue swallowtail {Papilio phile- 

 nor, pi. 11, figs. 53, 54; pi. 14, figs. 82, 83). One of our very prettiest 

 butterflies this is, though full appreciation of its beauty is often 

 somewhat dimmed by its predilection for laying its eggs on Dutch- 

 man's pipe when planted as an ornamental vine about porches and 

 verandas. 



Much like this on the upper side, but very different underneath 

 is another kind {Papilio devilliers, pi. 11, figs. 51, 52), an inhabitant 

 of Cuba sometimes found in Florida. 



