Fall. 27. XII. 08. 
1. Family: Papilionidae, Swallowtails. 
Palpi in all the Ethiopian forms small, appressed to the head. The forelegs in both sexes fully 
developed; the foretibiae with a flat appendage (»foretibial spur«) placed centrally about on the innerside. 
The submedian of the forewing sends out from its base posteriorly a short branch which runs into the 
hindmargin of the wing before the middle. The hindwing with only one innermarginal vein, as vein la is 
wanting. The tai’sal claws simple. — Egg rounded or somewhat flattened, without distinct sculpturing. 
Full-grown larva unarmed or with fleshy tubercles or simple spines placed in pairs, always with an 
expansible fork of a bright yellow or red colour between the head and the first thoracic segment, which 
has an unpleasant odour and probably serves as a means of defence. Pupa more or less angular, fastened 
at the anal extremity and by a girth round the middle. 
Only a single genus of this family occurs in the Ethiopian Region. 
1. Genus. Papilio L., Swallowtails. 
For the differences between this genus of the Papilionids and those which are not represented in 
this faunistic region the reader is referred to the descriptions in the other divisions of the work. *) 
The species of Papilio form an important part of the African butterfly fauna. Some, such as 
P. demodocus, policenes, dardanus, leonidas and nireus, are distributed over the greater part of the continent 
and are almost everywhere common, others are confined to smaller districts, where moreover they are rare. 
Almost all the larvae appear to live on trees or shrubs and it is probably on this account that the butterflies 
occur almost exclusively in wooded districts and are wanting on the large grassy steppes. The males often 
congregate together with other butterflies, especially Pierids, at the edge of the water and settle in large 
crowds to drink. The females on the contrary are never met with in such places; they fly about less 
and are mostly taken fluttering round the food-plant of the larvae. This explains why the females even 
of quite common species are still very rare in collections. They must be sought in the forest at the 
food-plants, or better still, bred from the larvae. 
The Ethiopian Swallowtails also can be divided into three subgenera, which are easy to differentiate 
as follows: 
A. The 1. subcostal of the forewing runs quite free to the costal margin. 
a. The antennae black, without scales. The inner margin of the hindwing in both sexes flat or 
more or less fluted, in the cf always without scent-scales. Fluted Papilios. 
/?. The antennae red or reddish. The inner margin of the hindwing in the cf curved upwards, 
enclosing a quantity of pilose scaling. Aristolochia Papilios. 
B. The 1. costal vein of the forewing anastomoses soon after its origin with the costa. The inner 
margin of the hindwing in the cf turned over above, forming a fold, which encloses long spreading- 
bristles and more or less pilose androconia. Kite Swallowtails. 
A. Fluted Papilios. 
This subgenus includes the largest of the African Papilio- species and indeed the largest butterflies 
of Africa. Of the ten groups which belong here all but the last, which is also represented in Asia, are 
confined to the Ethiopian Region. 
Antimachus Group. 
The abdomen long and slender, reaching to the anal angle of the hindwing. Forewing very long and 
narrow, at least in the cf twice as long as the rounded tailless hindwing. Palpi yellow. Breast spotted with yellow. 
Frons, vertex, pronotum and patagia each with two small light yellow spots. 
P. antimachus Drury (la). One of the largest of all known butterflies; described and figured from antimachus. 
a single male specimen from Sierra Leone as long ago as 1782. Not until 1864 was a second specimen 
brought to Europe. Now the species is fairly well represented in European collections. Forewing black 
*) See vol. I, p. 7, 8; vol. V, p. 12; vol. IX, p. 9. 
