COMMON BUTTERFLIES OF THE PLAINS 01 INDIA. 1123 



in different species and emits a very strong scent or smell, some- 

 what pungent but not disagreeable, recalling the concentrated 

 essence of the juices of the food-plant. The device is certainly 

 protective though how it exactl} 7- acts on the senses of enemies it is 

 not easy to say. 



The smell, through its pungency, is almost certainly obno- 

 xious to insect foes ; for concentrated essences or vegetable juices are 

 known to be avoided by them : witness cloves, cinnamon, lemon, 

 lavender. The stickiness of the organs may, by actual contact 

 with a parasitic fly or wasp of small dimensions, ward of injury ; 

 the sudden protrusion and motion of the same might possibly have 

 a like effect in the case of larger enemies. The larva3 often 

 strike at the part of the body menaced with the protruded 

 organs : that much is easy to observe and has often been 

 noted ; that an attacking fly is frightened therebjr has also been 

 seen ; whether the attempt is repeated by the same fly with 

 successful issue is not known. That larvae do get parasitised is 

 well known. Some of the species suffer greatly in that way. 



The form of papilionid caterpillars is spindle-shaped with the 

 ends blunt or cut off square. The head is large and withdrawable 

 under segment 2. Segment 4< is mostly thickened somewhat 

 transverselv to the length of the bodv and often bears a ridge in 

 the same sense ; this region is generally the broadest part of the 

 larva. The tail end bears two tubercles of characteristic length 

 as do very often segments 2, 8, 4 also. There are several very 

 well characterized types of these larvte, each representing easily 

 distinguished divisions of the genus Pa'pilio : — 



Section I. — Larvae when full grown without conical fleshy tubercles. 



A. Full grown larva with the anal segment continued into two short 

 parallel, sharply conical points, close together. 



a. Full grown larva having the appearance of being 



transversely lined, segment 4 differently coloured 

 to rest. 

 a x . Full grown larva black on dorsum of segment 4. . nomius. 

 b 1 . Full grown larva green on dorsum of segment 4. . antiphates. 

 These two larvi"e are generally whitish in the ground colour though 

 nomius is sometimes dark brown or reddy brown. 



b. Full oTowii larva more or less concolourous. 



