14 MR. H. J. ELWES ON THE GENUS PARNASsIUS. [Jan. 19, 
lation. Some of this substance I was able to pull out with a pin, 
but it began to harden immediately on exposure to the atmosphere, 
and became quite brittle, and of a yellowish colour. From this I 
am led to think that the male supplies the material of which the 
‘pouch’ is made, and that the female has really very little to do 
with making the ‘pouch’ at all. 
“Besides the copulations before mentioned, three others took 
place, two being remarkable for the time they lasted, viz. 6 hours 30 
minutes, and 6 hours 25 minutes. 
‘So far as I have been able to see, the ‘ pouch’ of the female is 
of no use whatever after copulation. 
‘«* Although the food-plant of this species was in the gauze cage, 
not one egg was laid upon it but all were laid upon the gauze.” 
Partly owing to the fact that nearly all the species were happily 
unknown to the older authors, and partly because no one has yet 
attempted to divide the genus, its synonymy and literature is much 
more simple than in some genera. Herrich-Schaffer, Oberthir, 
Felder, and Staudinger have all published more or less complete cata- 
logues of Purnassius, of which the last is the most accurate and valu- 
able for the European species known to him. ‘The principal authors 
who have described the various species are Ménétries, Eversmann, and 
Gray ; but I need not refer here to their various writings, which are 
cited under the various species they described. The characters 
upon which most, if not all, previous writers have principally relied 
for the definition of the various species, namely, the pattern of the 
markings and the number and position of the black or red spots and 
ocelli, are, however, far too variable in most cases to be trustworthy. 
A very uniform style of coloration and pattern prevails throughout 
the genus, and though the affinities of most of the species to each 
other are more or less traceable by these characters, yet I have pre- 
ferred myself to trust to the much more permanent, invariable, and 
important characters of the antennee, fringes, and pouches of the 
females. Though these characters are not absolutely invariable, 
yet, as far as I can see from the examination of large series, they are 
much more so than colours or markings ; and the pouch alone is so 
good a structural character, as to be invaluable for the purpose of 
classification. 
But I have not described the form of these pouches in words, 
because the illustrations make it unnecessary ; and though I have 
not, as I should have wished, been able to figure the pouch in every 
individual species, with the corresponding organs of the male, on 
account of the excessive number of plates that would have been 
required, yet all the most characteristic aud remarkable have been 
accurately drawn by Mr. E. Wilson, of Cambridge, on a uniform 
scale of 2. 
As far as I have observed, the difference between the clasping 
organs of the male in different species is trifling compared with the 
difference between the pouches of the female; and it will be a most 
1 Gf. note by Prof. Howes, above, p. 10. 
