SWALLOW-TAIL 



silken girdle, or other method of suspension and attach- 

 ment, is not the least feature of interest. 



We may now proceed to give succinct accounts of a 

 representative selection of our British Butterflies, classi- 

 fying same under each Family to which they belong. 

 There are not more than 68 species in all. Several of 

 these are extinct, very rare, or restricted to special 

 localities, and I propose to deal only with those Ukely to 

 be encountered under normal circumstances 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES 



FAMILY PAPILIONID^ 



Swallow - Tail. — (Prt/)///o tnachaon.) This handsome 

 species is now restricted to the two counties of Cam- 

 bridge and Norfolk, where it haunts marshy situations, 

 though it resorts abroad to woods and mountainous 

 regions. It is on the wing from May onwards, the globular 

 eggs being laid, for preference, upon milk parsley. Other 

 food plants are angeHca, fennel, and wild carrot. The 

 larva is greenish-yellow, banded with black and orange, 

 and after the third casting of the skin, a curious forked 

 appendage appears upon the head. This can be raised 

 or put away at will. The pupae are to be discovered on 

 the stems of plants. The imago is bright yellow, with 

 ornate bands and veins of brownish-black. The hind 

 wings have, as a rule, blue and red patches, and they 



7 



