THE PIERIN^E. 



One of the commonest genera in the Eastern Archipelago is Amblypodice. These are blue Butter- 

 flies, often with brown borders, resembling the European species of Thecla in shape, and, like them, 

 generally with a short tail on the hind wings. But they are much larger, many of the species 

 measuring two inches across the wings, The under surface is brown, with darker bands and markings, 

 bordered with pale lines. 



Finally, JEumatus is a small South American genus, containing a few dark brown Butterflies 

 more or less marked with green on the upper side. The hind wings are bordered by a green band, 

 and on the under side by three nearly contiguous rows of spots of the same colour. 



FAMILY IV. PAPILIONID^E. 



The Papilionidce may be at once distinguished from all other Butterflies (except the Hesperiidw, 

 which we need not now consider) by their possessing six perfectly-developed legs in both sexes. The 

 pupa, or chrysalis, is not only attached by the tail, but is generally fixed in an upright position by a 

 belt of silk round the body. There are two sub-families. In the first (the Pierinte) the inner 

 margin of the hind wings is not concave, and the larvae are slender, and covered with fine hair. In 

 the second sub-family (the Papilionince) the inner margin of the hind wings is concave, and the 

 larvae have always a retractile fork on the neck. 



The Pierince, to which many of our commonest Butterflies belong, are, with few exceptions, 

 white or yellow, with black spots and borders. They are Butterflies of about the middle size, seldom 

 measuring less than an inch and a 

 half, or more than three inches 

 across the wings, and the wings are 

 very rarely dentated, and though 

 furnished occasionally with angular 

 projections in the middle, or towards 

 the anal angle of the hind wings, 

 are never tailed, in the strict sense 

 of the term. 



The more aberrant genera are 

 South American, and sometimes re- 

 semble other Butterflies, but the 

 first (Pereute) stands quite by itself. 

 These are black Butterflies, measur- 

 ing nearly three inches across the 

 rather broad wings, and most species 

 have a transverse red bar across the 

 fore wings. Many of the species 

 of Archonias resemble some of the 

 smaller Nymphalida}, being black 

 or brown, with a yellow or white 

 band, often broken, into spots, run- 

 ning across the middle of both pairs 

 of wings. The hind wings are often 

 more or less dentated, and are fre- 

 quently ornamented beneath with numerous yellow spots and festooned markings of brown, black, 

 and white. 



The genus Disniorphia is likewise South American. It includes a number of long-winged 

 Butterflies with narrow wings, which have no resemblance to the family to which they belong, but 

 " mimic " various species of Danaincc. Many are black and yellow, others are marked with red, and 

 some are even transparent, with black bands and borders. Most species can readily be distinguished 

 from the Butterflies which they resemble by their very broad hind wings, but in some instances they 

 are so much like the long-winged Danaince that they might readily be passed over for them, but for 

 the structure of their legs. 



A, DISMORPHIA ORISE ; B, METHONA PSIDII. 



