518 PAPILIONIDJi. 
an exceedingly variable character, although this appendage is in all cases 
shorter than in typical P. machaon. There are also some very interesting 
aberrations of this species from China. In one example the black markings 
on the left pau- of wings are bleached in appearance whilst the right pair are 
quite normal. Another specimen has the abdomen entirely yellowish white, 
as is the case in P. podalirius, var. zanclceus, Zeller. In another specimen 
the black band on upper surface of abdomen is very narrow. 
Ladakensis, to which reference has previously been made, is only observed 
in the N.W. Himalayas after the snowy ranges, which afford an impassable 
ban-ier to the monsoon, are passed. I first met with it on descending the 
Zoji-la Pass towards Dras, It was very abundant at intervals along the beds 
of streams, and seemed to be fond of congregating on wet patches of sand. 
Mr. de NiceviUe, who accompanied me, netted over twenty specimens in one 
sweep, and these exhibited all kinds of modification in the length 'of the tail. 
The form occurring in Kashmir and the outer ranges of the N.W. Hima- 
layas agrees very AveU with some European specimens of P. machaon. 
Mr. Moore (Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 1884, p. 32) describes a form of this 
species [sikkimensis) from Sikkim ; and Mr. Elwes, referring to this form in 
his paper on the Lepidoptera of Sikkim (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1888, 
p. 437) states that it is " darker and more heavily marked than in Europe, 
smaller and more uniform in colour than in Japan ; " and adds that it 
occurs at a great elevation, "probably from 8 or 10 to 12,000 feet and 
upwards." 
Dr. Staudinger describes a form of P. machaon, from the neighbourhood 
of Margelan and also from Samarkand, as var. centralis (Stett. ent. Zeit. 1886, 
p. 193). He says : — " It is a form of the second brood which flies in those 
localities dm'ing June and July * ; the first brood, composed entirely of 
typical specimens, flies in April and May." This variety is distinguished 
by a preponderance of the yellow ground-colour and more restricted character 
of the black markings ; the black basal portion of primaries and the basal 
and inner marginal areas of secondaries are suffused with yellow ; the 
abdomen of the male is almost entirely devoid of black markings. Some 
aberrant examples of P. machaon from China seem to be referable to var. 
* M. Grum-Grsliimailo (Kom. sur Lep. iv. p. 141) seems to be doubtful -whether the specimens 
of var. centralis referred to above were taken at the time of year or in the place mentioned b}- 
Dr. Staudinger. 
