6 14 L. de Niceville & Dr. L. Martin— Butterflies of Sumatra. [No. 3, 



581. Papilio (Charus) helbnus, Linnaeus. 



Grose Smith. Snellen. Hagen. Wallace. Butler. Distant. 

 Dr. Wallace separates off the Sumatran and Javan form of P. helenus 

 from the North Indian form as a " Local form b," differing in being 

 " Smnller ; the third and fourth lunules from the anal angle beneath 

 very small or quite absent." Next to P. polytes, Linnaeus, and 

 P. antiphus, Fabricius, this is our most common Papilio, a true inhabi- 

 tant of the forest, found over the whole of our area, even on the Cen- 

 tral Plateau, but most plentiful on the outer hills. The male has a 

 quick and powerful flight, and frequents flowers and wet spots on forest 

 roads. The female is rarer, and must be looked for in the forest when 

 depositing her eggs. The larva is most common in February on different 

 species of Citrus, it is superficially very similar to that of P. memnon, 

 Linnoeus, but is somewhat smaller and has brownish-red lateral streaks. 

 The pupa is smaller and much more slender, but is coloured like that 

 of P. memnon. The imago emerges in from 14 to 15 days. Rothschild 

 records this species from Sumatra as (e), P. helenus palaxvanicus, 

 Staudinger. 



582. Papilio (Charus) iswara, White. 



Hagen. Very rare in our area, more common on the western 

 boundary, as most of the specimens received have been from the 

 Gayoe-lands. Occasionally taken at Selesseh and Besitan. Found 

 in the plains and outer hills. During a short collecting trip in Iudra- 

 giri in the middle of Sumatra, Di\ Friedl Martin found this species very 

 plentifully in February, 1895, but not a single specimen of P. helenus, 

 Linnaeus, was observed. 



583. Papilio (Charus) nephelus, Boisduval. 



Grose Smith. Hagen as albolineatus, Fabricius [sic] ; nephelus; and 

 nephelus, var. saturnus. Wallace. Staudinger. Distant as nephelus, 

 var. saturnus. Forbes as saturnus. Butler as saturnus. Distant notes 

 that in a Sumatran specimen of this species in his collection " The 

 pale stramineous markings above are more or less shaded with dark 

 ochraceous." This remark probably applies to a female. P. albolineatus, 

 Forbes, was described from Borneo, and is figured in Aid, vol. ii, pi. 

 clxvi, fif. 1. We have seen no specimen of it from Sumatra, though 

 Dr. Hagen has recorded it from thence. P. nephelus is rarer than 

 P. helenus, Linnaeus, and occurs throughout the year in the plains and 

 on the outer hills, but not on the Central Plateau. It is also a true 

 forest butterfly ; the males have a very quick and restless flight, are 

 fond of flowers, but settle only for a very brief period ; never observed 



