24 MR. H. J. ELWES ON THE GENUS PARNASSIUS. [Jail. 19, 



1884, in hopes of being able to find larvae or pupae, but was dis- 

 appointed in this, as on other occasions, tliough I took many males 

 and several freshly emerged females. One pair were taken in copula 

 at about 11.30 a.m., but separated in the net, and the female pouch 

 was developed and hard, leading me to sujipose that it was not 

 the copulation of a virgin female, or that the act was already complete 

 when I found them. The males flew backwards and forwards over 

 a space of about 200 yards iiy 40, where tlieir food-plant was most 

 abundant ; but unless chased flew at a slow pace, and frequently 

 settled ; the females flew but seldom, and settled for several minutes 

 at a time on the plants of Saxifragu. I did not observe them in the 

 act of laying, though eggs were visible externally in one or more 

 specimen. The egg appears identical with that of P. smiutkeus, 

 figured by Edwards in tiie ' Butterflies of North America.' 



I returned to Brieg in May 1885, hojiing to find the larva in the 

 same place ; but in this season the snow was still unmclted on May 

 26th, and lay two feet deep over the j)iace where the butterfly had 

 been common on July 1st in the previous season. This leads me to 

 think that P. delius, like P. apollo and probably P. mnemosyne, passes 

 some parts of its larval existence in the autumn, and remains 

 dormant under the snow during 6 to 8 months, according to the 

 elevation. I have found the butterfly as early as the end of June, 

 both near Bergun and at Pontresina, and it may be found at 

 higher altitudes up to 7000 or 8000 feet throughout July and 

 August. 



The variation to which this species is subject consists principally 

 in the number and size of the red ocelli. The male has sometimes 

 one, but usually two, red spots on the fore wing bevond the cell : 

 the one on the costa is almost always present, and there is sometimes 

 a black, and very rarely a red spot as well, near the middle of the 

 hind margin of the fore wing. The fringe of the wings is sometimes 

 plain white, and sometimes more or less distinctly marked with 

 black at the end of the veins. 



In the variety intermedius, from the Altai Mountains, these black 

 markings on the fringe are much more regular and constant. In 

 female specimens, as in the American form smintheus, there are 

 generally two, sometimes one, and rarely three, red spots beyond the 

 cell. In one specimen in my collection, and in one figured by 

 Meyer-Diir, these three spots are almost confluent, forming a short 

 bar edged with black. 



The size of Swiss specimens varies from 2*50 to 1-80 inches ; the 

 Altai specimens average about 2-25 ; in American specimens the 

 largest I have are of the so-called var. he.rmodur, from the Rocky 

 Mountains of British Columbia, which are 2-40 to 2o0 inches across 

 the wings, and the smallest, from Colorado, measure 2-10 to 1-80 

 inches. 



With regard to the American form sm'uUheus, such a full and 

 excellent account of its habits has been given by Mr. W. H. Edwards 

 in Butt. N. A. vol. i. j)|). 21-2(5, that I need say but httle ; a 

 further account of its habits as observed in the Judith Mountains, 



