CHAPTER II. 



PAPILIONID/E. 



Papilio, Linn. 



HE queen of British butterflies the first 

 in rank as well as beauty belongs to the 

 genus Papilio* at once the type of its 

 family, the Papilionida, and of the whole 

 tribe of butterflies. The superiority in size 

 combined with the- possession of the long swallow-tail on 

 each hind-wing at once separates this from every other 

 British genus. But we may further note that the larva is 

 cylindrical in form and smooth, that the pupa is attached 

 by the tail and kept in an upright position by a band of 

 silk round the upper part of the body (Fig. 15), and that 

 the perfect insect has six legs that it can use in walking, 

 and the knob of the antennae somewhat elongated. One 

 species only, Papilio machaon, can be reckoned as 

 British, though record has been made of the capture, now 

 many years since, of one or two specimens of P. poda- 

 lirius (Scarce Swallow-tail, Fig. 16) scarce, that is, as 



* Papilio, a butterfly. 



D 2 



