542 



PAPILIONID^. 



ornees de taches rouges semecs de noir. Ces taches, situees dans I'entre-deux des nervures et 

 pres du hord exterieur, sont lunulees ; celle qui est plus pres de Tangle anal est plus chargeo 

 de rouge ; les deux suivantes sont encore assez rouges ; mais les trois dernieres paraissent 

 rouges presque uniquement par la transparence du dessous. Ces lunules sont au milieu 

 d'une macule triangulaire qui ressorfc plus noire sur le fond de I'aile. 



" Lo dessous reproduit le dessus, mais est d'un ton plus pale et plus mat. Les taches rouges de I'aile 

 inferieure ne sont pas saupoudrecs de noir, et il y a en plus de celles du dessus une grosse 

 tache rouge pros de la poche anale ; cette tache transparait cependant un peu en dessus. 



" La femelle differe du male parce que la poche est rcmplacee par un renflement et parce que la 

 couleur des ailes est d'un brun plus pale, cuivreux, au lieu d'etre noir." (Oberthiir, I. c.) 



This species seems to combine the characters of both P. alcinons and some 

 of the aberrant forms of P. philoxenus. From P. alcinous it may be separated 

 by the greenish-cupreous sheen of the upper surface of the male and in both 

 sexes by the more irregular outline of the secondaries and more spatulate 

 tails ; the under surface of all the wings is olivaceous brown, thus causing 

 the neuration of secondaries to appear more prominent. The female more 

 nearly resembles the same sex of P. alcinous. 



In both sexes the secondaries have the appearance of being semitransparent, 

 and this will serve to at once separate P. plufonius from any form of P. alcinous. 



From dark forms of P. phiJoxenus this species can easily be separated by 

 the number and arrangement of submarginal lunules on the under surface of 

 the secondaries ; these in P. plufonius are seven in number, instead of five, 

 and are placed in a regular series nearer to the margin of the wing than in 

 P. philoxenus ; there is never any trace of a red spot on the tail or on the 

 lobe at end of second median nervule, and the spot beyond discoidal cell is 

 not white. 



Although the red submarginal lunules are always constant on the under 

 surface they vary in definition on tlie upper surface, and in one example are 

 reduced in number to one spot at anal angle. 



Appears to be common and generally distributed in Western China. 



In his " Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Sikkim " (Trans. Eut. Soc. Lond. 

 1888), Mr. Elwes, referring to P. plutonius, says : — 



" Of this species I have only two females in bad condition, brought by my 

 native sliikaris from tlie interior, perhaps from lihotan, in 1884. They 

 strongly resemble small dark females of the Japanese P. alcinous in all but 

 their sjiorter spathulato tails, and arc probably the females of a western form of 

 this species." 



iJistrihution. Western China, Bhotan. 



