224 BULLETIN: MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



VI. COMPARISOX OF THE CoLOR-VaEIATIOXS OF THE PaPILIOS OF 



South America with those of the Helicoxidae. 



In order to emphasize the peculiarities of the coloration of the 

 Heliconidae, I will conclude by instituting a comparison between 

 their variations and those of the South American Papilios. There 

 are about 200 species of Papilio in South America, and these display 

 in all 36 distinct colors. The colors have been determined by 

 reference to the plates in Ridgway's " Xomenclature of color for 

 naturaUsts." A list of the colors which are displayed by these Papi- 

 lios has already been given upon page 191. 



By exercising a verj^ fine discrimination in distinguishing color we 

 may count 15 distinct colors which are displayed by the 450 mem- 

 bers of the Danaoid Heliconidae, as folloAvs : black, brown, translu- 

 cent black, sul2:»hur-yellow, canary-yeUow, citron-yeUow, jjrimrose- 

 yellow, yeUow-rufous, reddish rufous, rufous, white, translucent yel- 

 low, translucent rufous, transparent areas upon the wings, ti'anspar- 

 ent areas which display iridescence. We see, then, that while the 

 200 species of Papilio display 36 different colors, the 450 Danaoid 

 Heliconidae exhibit only 15. In other words, the numbers of the 

 species and of the colors are almost in inverse ratio in the two 

 groups; for while the Papilios ai"e only , A as numerous as the 

 Danaoid Heliconidae, the}' display almost ^-£- times as many colors ; 

 and this is all the more remarkable when we remember that the gen- 

 eral class of coloration in the Papilios and Danaoid Heliconidae is 

 apparentl}' the same. That is to say, in both groups Ave find all of 

 the species displaying decidedly consj^icuous colors, the coloration 

 of the upper surfaces of the wings being in both rather more bril- 

 liant than that of the lower surfaces, but without essential differences 

 in color-pattern. Xor is there an attempt in either case at protective 

 resemblances, such as the imitation of the coloration of bark, leaves, 

 etc. The color-patterns of the Papilios are, moreover, extremely 

 complex, and upon comparing the different species, there are seen 

 to be frequent fusions and obliterations of the characteristic mark- 

 ings, so that Haase ('93), who has made an extensive study of their 

 color-patterns, is forced to divide them into many small groups 

 of a few species each. The variation in the form of the wings is 

 also very great among the Papilios, for while P. protesilaus pos- 

 sesses upon its hind wings, long tail-like appendages, the hind 

 wings of P. hahneli are rounded off and without marked appendages. 



