THE PURPLE HIGHFLIER. 153 



It derives the title of Purple Highflier, as it very 

 rarely descends to the ground ; except in some few 

 instances, having hitherto been only captured in 

 elevated situations ; and even those instances have 

 been after a strong wind or heavy fall of rain. The 

 tops of the loftiest forest trees afford it an asylum ; 

 and in the caterpillar and chrysalis state, it is preserved 

 from the wanton cruelty of man, by the almost 

 inaccessible height of its habitation. The larvae feed 

 on the sallow, (salix caprea.J They are obtained 

 by beating the branches of the tree with a pole 

 twenty or thirty feet in length ; in which case it is 

 a necessary precaution to cover the ground beneath 

 with large sheets, to a certain distance, lest the larvae 

 should fall and be lost among the herbage. 



The caterpillar is hatched about the end of May or 

 beginning of June ; and in the beginning of July, it 

 passes to the chrysalis condition ; and undergoes its 

 final change into the imago, or perfect butterfly, in the 

 end of that month, or in August. 



The great difficulty and trouble in rearing the 

 caterpillar of this Papilio, even after it has been found, 

 and the still greater difficulty of taking the butterfly, 

 has stamped a valuable consideration on it, and par- 

 ticularly so when the colours are bright and the insect 

 in a perfect condition ; and, therefore, a high price is 

 obtained for it when in a good state of preservation. 

 The male is smaller, but more beautiful than the 

 female, the upper side of the wings of the female 

 not being enriched with that vivid change of purple, 

 which the male possesses in such an eminent degree ; 



