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ON A RARE CANADIAN BUTTERFLY. 



Papilio cresphontes Cram. 

 By William Saunders, London, Ont. 



This handsome swallow-tail butterfly formerly known as Papilio thoas is essentially a 

 Southern insect, quite common throughout the Southern States, where it feeds in the larval 

 condition upon the foliage of the orange and lemon trees. When first discovered it was 

 thought to be restricted to the South, but more thorough investigation has shown that it is 

 much more widely distributed. It has been found in Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, Wis- 

 consin, Connecticut, and also in several localities in the western part of Ontario, particularly 

 in the south-western portion of the County of Lambton, and in the neighbourhood of Am- 

 herstburg, Co. Essex, it has also been taken at Hamilton and Dundas, and has been seen on 

 the wing at St. Thomas. It occurs throughout the month of June and also in August. 



This is a very beautiful insect. The accompanying cut figure 38, in which it is very 

 faithfully delineated was drawn and engraved by Mr. Worthington G. Smith, of London, 

 England, from a fine specimen captured by Mr. J. M. Denton, near Amherstburg, 



Fig. 38. 



The wings are of a deep black colour, crossed by a band of yellow spots extending from 

 tip to tip of the fore wings and covering also the front margin of the hind wings. The 

 third spot from the tip is oblong, sometimes notched by encroachment of the ground colour, 

 and surmounted by two or three smaller spots ; there is also a row of three or four spots 

 below the band, extending to the inner angle. The bind wings are also furnished with a 

 row of six or seven yellow spots, while the anal angle has a reddish crescent with a patch 

 powdered with blue atoms above it. The edges of these wings are notched, and more or less 



