324 HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN FAUNA. 



handsome and stately Butterfly known as Apollo. 

 To the ardent entomologist, the first sight of this 

 typical Alpine species is a never-to-be-forgotten de- 

 light, and he generally brings home with him a rich 

 harvest of specimens. The more experienced Butter- 

 fly hunter knows that there are no less than three 

 different kinds of Apollo or, as we should say more 

 correctly, of Parnassius in Switzerland. There is 

 first the common Apollo (Parnassius Apollo], then 

 the rarer and more local P delius> which inhabits 

 more elevated regions, and finally the still scarcer P. 

 mnemosyne> which is only known from the highest 

 mountain ranges. It may be a surprise to those who 

 have accustomed themselves to connect Apollo with 

 the Alps, and who think the two belong together and 

 cannot do without one another, to hear that it is 

 by no means confined to them. It is also found in 

 Scandinavia, France, Spain, Russia, and in Siberia. 

 Parnassius delius is confined to the European Alps 

 and the mountains of Central Asia, while P. mnemo- 

 syne is known from the Pyrenees, Sweden, Hungary, 

 Sicily, Russia, and Western Asia. One other Par- 

 nassius inhabits Europe, viz., P. Nordmanni of the 

 Caucasus, but all the remaining species of the genus 

 and there arc nearly thirty more are confined to 

 Central Asia. A few, as we have seen, have reached 

 Europe, some have travelled to the Himalayan 

 Mountains, and others to Western North America. 

 The centre of distribution is certainly in Central 

 Asia, and we have no reason to suppose that the 



