THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



219 



variably found on the anterior tibiae of the 

 Papilioninje, by the channel formed by the 

 abdominal margin of the posterior wings for 

 the reception of the abdomen, and by the 

 different structure of the median nerve." 

 Doubleday and Westvvood ; Genera of Diurnal 

 Lepidoptera. (The tibia may be called the 

 leg of the butterfly. The femur, or thigh, is 

 the portion nearest the body. The tibia 

 shank, or leg, is the second portion ; and the 

 tarsus, or foot, is next. On the foot there are 

 generally two claws.) 



SUB-FAMILY I : PAPILIONIN.-E. 

 Imago — As above. 



Larva- — Cylindrical, with sixteen legs, 

 and two retractile tentaculae on the second 

 segment. (See Plate 2, Fig. i, a.) 



Pupa —Angular, with the head bifid, or 

 square, never pointed ; attached by the tail, 

 with a belt of silk round the body. 



Only the typical genus is represented in 

 Britain, though several others are found in 

 Europe. 



GENUS I. — PAPILIO. 



Papilio. — The Latin word for Butterfly. 

 Linmeus used this generic name for the 

 whole of the butterflies, but it is now 

 restricted to this genus, which having a larger 

 number of species than any other, and many 

 of them being among the largest and most 

 beautiful of the butterflies, still gives the 

 name a deserved precedence. 



1.— MACHAON. PI. 2, Fig. 1. 

 The Swallow Tail. 



The only British representative of the 

 genus, which is most abundant in species in 

 tropical countries. Machaon is mentioned in 

 Homer, from whence Linnaeus took many of 

 his names, as one of the sons of JEsculapius. 



Imago. — PI. 2, Fig. 1. Ground color 

 ochre yellow, with the veins and margins 

 black, the hind wing has a row of blue 

 lunules on the hind margin, and a red eye 

 spot at the anal angle. The hind margin of 



the hind wing is prolonged into a tail. It is 

 the largest and handsomest of the British 

 butterflies, and cannot possibly be mistaken 

 for any other. 



Larva. — PI. 2, Fig. 1, a. Bright apple 

 green, with black rings spotted with yellow. 

 When young it is much darker. 



Pupa- — PI. 2, Fig. 1, b. Ochre colored, 

 sometimes with a darker stripe down the 

 side ; rather stumpy. 



Food Plants. — Wild carrot (Daucus 

 carota), Milk parsley (Peucadanum palustre), 

 Wood angelica (Angelica sylvestris ), and many 

 other umbelliferous plants. In confinement 

 it will feed freely on garden carrot. 



Times of Appearance — The perfect 

 insect emerges in May, and continues on the 

 wing till July. The larva may be found from 

 June to August. The pupa is fastened to the 

 stem of a reed or similar plant, and remains 

 in this way over the winter. 



Habitat. — In England Machaon is a fen 

 insect. It was formerly common in all the 

 Norfolk and Cambridgeshire fens, and then 

 occasionally visited gardens in suburbs of 

 London. Now it is almost if not entirely 

 confined to Wicken fen in Cambridgeshire. 

 On the Continent and elsewhere it is much 

 less restricted in its habitat, and is found in 

 open places, in woods, gardens, meadows. &c. 

 It has a wide range abroad, occurring all over 

 Europe, except in the extreme North. It is 

 also found in the North and West of Asia, in 

 North Africa, and in Western North America. 



Variation. — Few varieties have been 

 found in England. There is one in the 

 British Museum, with the ground color drab, 

 instead of ochre-yellow, and others similar 

 are in a very few private collections. (See 

 " Illust rations of Varietiesof British Lepidop- 

 tera." Papilio pi. 1.) A variety is also figured 

 on the same plate with the veins of the hind 

 wing obscured by the ground colour. The 

 red of the eye spot at the anal angle, some- 

 times shows more or less between the veins on 

 the hind margin. Several varieties occurring 

 out of Britain have been named. Sphyrus, Hub. 



