14G 
OUE BEITISH BTJTTEBFLIES. 
Nature and Art, May 1, 1867. 
ment of a more thorough knowledge of these beau- 
tiful insects. The lovely butterfly that comes first 
on our lists is known to naturalists as the Papilio 
Macliaon of Linnaeus, but more popularly under the 
title of the Swallow-tailed : it exceeds all the other 
British forms in size, and, when flying near the 
ground, its sailing, rook-like flight gives it the op- 
portunity of exhibiting all its beautiful and simple 
colours to great advantage. 
Never shall we forget the day when our eyes first 
feasted on that glorious sight — the Swallow-tailed 
upon the wing. It had been a drizzling, misty 
morning, and even as we left home the fine sleety 
rain came down in fitful showers, which, contrasting 
with the warmth of the atmosphere, annoyed us 
with their prickly chillness — a tiling, by the bye, 
well calculated to produce sneezing-fits. We did 
not dare to hope for butterflies, though we did 
occasionally come across some few stragglers of 
the poor hardworking honey-bee, carrying their 
sweet burden through the damp, heavy atmosphere ; 
having arrived at a clover-field, we stood watching 
the wide expanse of purple flowers, when an object 
met our view, soaring aloft, then sweeping the field 
like some small bird of prey in search of a victim. 
As it approached, we could perceive that its wings 
were of a yellow colour ; and it soon settled not 
many yards from our feet. One moment and it 
would be a captive : to open our umbrella-net, 
rush forwards, and swing it round, was the work of 
an instant. But “there is many a slip,” says the 
old proverb — a brother’s net met ours with a crash, 
and we perceived that the fluttering prisoner was 
his prize. That very morning a second specimen 
was beneath his net, but, in his excitement, lie 
raised the gauzy prison, and away soared the freed 
insect into the now blue sky, and rapidly disappeared 
from sight. 
Strangely enough, all the Swallow-tailed butter- 
flies that we have seen on the wing have come 
across our path whilst collecting at Herne Bay, a 
place not mentioned in any list of localities for the 
insect. One year we saw seven specimens, and 
several others have been both seen and chased by 
us during subsequent visits to that place. 
The genus Papilio, to which this species belongs, 
is a widely distributed and most beautiful one. 
Many of its forms very nearly approach the Swallow- 
tailed in pattern and coloration ; but as, in the 
present series of papers, our object is not merely to 
point out similar forms, we have chosen, as a repre- 
sentative of this species, a very beautiful insect 
from New Grenada, which is described and figured 
by Mi 1 . Hewitson, in his “Exotic Butterflies,” under 
the name of Papilio P)ioxippus. 
The caterpillar of the Swallow-tailed is green, 
having each segment of the body encircled by two 
black bands, the hinder band with a row of six 
orange spots. The head is furnished with a reddish 
forked appendage, which, when the creature is 
terrified, emits a strong-scented fluid ; and by this 
means it is said to protect itself from the attacks 
of those destructive parasitic insects, the ichneumon- 
flies.* It feeds upon wild carrot ( Daucus carota), 
fennel ( Anethum fceniculum), milk parsley ( Pence - 
danvm palustre), and other TJmbelliferse. 
The chrysalis is bright yellowish green, slightly 
darker in some parts, and is generally found 
attached to grass stalks by a thread round the 
middle, and a small web at the end of the 
tail. When the butterfly is nearly ready to 
emerge, the pattern and colouring of the upper 
wings and body may be distinctly seen through the 
thin shell-like covering. The wings are then 
always very small and thick. At the time of trans- 
formation, the chrysalis first splits longitudinally 
from the head to the end of the thorax. The 
hairs of the back are first seen to appear through 
the narrow opening, and gradually the head begins 
to rise encumbered by its imprisoned antenna! 
which, in the chrysalis, lie along the edges of the 
wings. Then the thin envelope cracks at the sides, 
the under anterior portion is forced away from the 
upper part, the legs begin to appear two at a time, 
the antenna' are released and brought forward, and 
the long proboscis is uncoiled ; the opening 
gradually enlarges, and the insect, bringing its legs 
into action, soon draws itself from its place of 
confinement; and, can we add, “flies away to 
enjoy the pleasures of sunshine and nectar.” Not 
so ; there is much to do yet ere it can attain to 
such aerial joys. Its wings are now small, 
shrivelled, thick, and heavy with moisture ; there- 
fore our butterfly runs up the nearest wall or 
upright stem, and, hanging its wings downwards, 
sits quietly for several minutes, and now those 
beautiful organs of locomotion begin to increase in 
size so rapidly, that a sharp eye may even detect 
their growth. If closely examined at this stage, it 
will be seen that the nerves, or veins of the wings,' 
are filled with a liquid which, being forced into 
them, radiates through exceedingly minute nervelets 
over the entire surface of the wing ; which, being 
formed of two delicate and distinct tissues, is at 
this time slightly swollen, balloon fashion ; and 
thus, in about twenty minutes, the wings attain 
the required dimensions. When they are nearly 
full-grown, the insect commences to open and shut 
them, which prevents them from clinging together ; 
after which it remains perfectly quiet until they 
are firm and ready for flight. The butterfly 
then commences to flutter (some moths will do this 
for many minutes), and, after taking a wheel in 
the air, as if to satisfy itself of the reality of its 
newly-acquired powers, it flies away to the enjoy- 
ment of life and pleasure. 
The wings of the genus Papilio possess a more 
perfect set of veins than those of any other group 
of butterflies, and, on that account, they have been 
so frequently employed to explain the names of 
their various branches, that it would be useless for 
us to repeat the oft-told tale. We would therefore 
refer all inquiring minds to “Westwood’s British 
* The disagreeable odour of caterpillars is a great pro- 
tection from the attacks of birds, lizards, and many other 
foes. 
