2 
SOUTH-AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES. 
or rattier short. The Papilionince have in the fore-ioings the first disco- 
cellular nervule almost always well developed ; the third disco-cellular 
nervule so disposed in relation to the median nervure that the lower 
radial appears to be a fourth median nervule ; the sub -costal nervure 
always five-branched (except in Parnassius and Hyiocrmnestra, where 
it is four-branched) ; the interno-median nervule present in four genera ; 
and the internal nervure always present (except in Doritis), and running 
to a free termination on the inner margin ; in the liind-ivings the inner 
margins are concave (often folded back), leaving the abdomen perfectly 
free, and the internal nervure is wanting ; the precostal nervure is 
branched, and forms with the costal nervure a small prediscoidal cell 
(in all but three genera). The palpi are usually very small and short, 
and closely appressed to the head ; the antennaB have a curved club. 
The legs are long, and the fore-tibia3 have on the inner side a con- 
spicuous projecting appendage, while the tarsal claws are simple and 
without appendages. The abdomen is thicker than usual, and enlarged 
posteriorly. 
The full development of the first pair of legs in both sexes, and the 
median suspensory silken girth of the chrysalis, are the main charac- 
ters of this Family, and together indicate a nearer relationship to the 
HetcTOcera than the three preceding Families exhibit. Of its two Sub- 
Families, the Painlioninm better exhibit this relationship, and in the 
median appendage of their fore-tibias show a point of affinity to the 
Hes^cridcc — the last Family of butterflies. 
In numerical strength the Pcqnlionidm stand fourth of the five Fami- 
lies, about fourteen hundred species being recorded. Of these, the Pieinnce 
muster a large majority (about nine hundred species), and they are also 
much more prolific in recognised generic forms, having thirty-nine or 
forty, while the Papilionince have but thirteen. The latter contain, how- 
ever, not only a far larger proportion of species remarkable for size, 
variety of form, and splendour of colouring, but also, in the genus Orni- 
tlioptera^ the very princes of the butterfly world, gigantic in stature, and 
of the richest and most intense hues. The Papilionince have not the 
same world-wide range as the Pierince, being mostly natives of tropical 
and sub-tropical lands, and even Parnassius (alpine above all the genera) 
not extending within the Arctic circle. The PieiHna^ are mostly of the 
middle size or rather smaller, and present a simple, but usually bright 
and conspicuous, colouring of white, yellow, or orange, tipped or bor- 
dered in many cases with black : some of the tropical and sub-tropical 
forms are, however, more variegated, and Tcracolus and Anthocharis in 
most cases present a brilliant patch of orange, red, crimson, or violet 
at the tips of the fore-wings. 
The larvae of the two Sub-Families (as indicated above) differ con- 
siderably, the robuster caterpillar of the Pa^nlioninx alone possessing 
the strongly-scented extrusible forked tentacle on the back of the 
second segment. 
DS 
