THE PA PI L /ON/DI. 
79 
the creature to walk over the stems and leaves of the plants, 
which are more difficult to grasp than those of the Umbelliferce. 
These species may be compared with a swallow-tail from Bengal 
{ [Papilio Hector ), which has its black wings spotted with white 
and red. Its caterpillar has a very hard head, and its labrum 
is deeply notched ; the mandibles are powerful, and are armed 
with saw-like edges, and the legs are much more spined than 
those of the other kinds. The Bengalese caterpillar evidently 
crawls over vegetable tissues which are not easily climbed, and 
lives upon large and hard leaves, and it is said that herbaceous 
Aristolochiacece are its favourite food. This caterpillar’s peculiar 
structures relate distinctly to its habits. It has, however, two 
rows of tubercles on the back, whilst the body of our species is 
smooth. 
Several very closely-allied genera, which belong to the same 
little group of Lepidoptera as the genus Papilio , are very 
remarkable, for more reasons than one. The Ornithoptera are 
readily distinguished by their great size, their strongly-formed 
head, their long anterior wings, and their toothed hind ones 
which have not a vestige of a swallow-tail ; they are magnifi- 
cent butterflies, which inhabit the Moluccas, the Philippines, 
and the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. Travellers in 
Amboina are always struck with the beauty of the great 
Ornithoptera Priamus, whose wings have a diameter of from 
six to eight inches. The black velvety colour and the bril- 
liant and silky green tints of the wings of the male are most 
harmoniously contrasted, and he is a glorious fellow ; but the 
female, although larger than its beautiful companion, is very 
quietly clothed in deep brown with white spots. 
In most mountainous countries there are species of the 
genus Parnassius y which have a short body, short antennae, and 
wings as crisp as parchment, and almost without any scales 
on their surfaces. The Parnassius Apollo is common during 
the summer on the Alps, the Jura fountains, the Puy-de-Dome, 
the Pyrenees, the Caucasus, and the Sierra Nevada ; and it 
has rather a striking appearance, on account of its great white 
wings being semi-transparent, spotted and dotted with black, and 
ornamented with splashes of vermilion, surrounded by black tints, 
