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§ X. The Scent-scales of the. Male “ Maracuja Butterflies 1 
With Plate H, Figs. 1, 2. 
The sense of smell plays an important part in the sexual relations of 
many creatures, among which the Lepidoptera are included. The males 
of many Hawk Moths and Heterocera can scent the virgin females from 
incredible distances. But on their part also, many male butterflies diffuse 
scents, which are undoubtedly agreeable to the females and arouse their 
sexual desires. It has long been known that the Privet and Convolvulus 
Hawk Moths, especially during flight, diffuse a strong musky scent, al¬ 
though the spot from whence it arises has not hitherto been discovered. 
The males of a moth of the genus Gryptolechia and those of the Glauco- 
pidae, which are related to the Herman Zygaenidae , 2 exsert from the apex of 
the abdomen two long hollow filaments, sometimes as long as the body, 
from which proceeds a scent which is often very powerful and to man 
sometimes appears to be agreeable, sometimes offensive, suggesting, for 
instance, chloroform and prussic acid. Similarly with the splendid South 
American butterflies, the gigantic Morphos, whose males extrude from 
each side of the apex of the abdomen a hairy, strong-smelling gland, of 
which the scent in the glorious blue M. adonis and M. cytheris , resembles 
vanilla. The wings far more frequently than the abdomen are the seat of 
the scent diffused by the male. To name only a few of the species dis¬ 
tinguished by especially strong scents s the male of Papilio protesilaus , 
a species similar to the “ sailing butterflies ” (“ Segelfalter ”), 3 with 
diffusely scaled, transparent wings, has the inner or posterior margin of 
the hind-wings broadly folded upwards ; if the wings are drawn strongly 
forwards, the fold opens, and a bristling, dense beard of long black hair 
is seen, while at the same time a strong scent becomes perceptible. In 
the family of the Whites (Pierinae) Leptalis thermesia and the Brimstone 
Callidryas cipris, remarkable for its slightly tailed hind-wings, are notable 
in this respect: in both the scent emanates from a patch of peculiar 
scales, situated on the upper surface of the hind-wings near the costal 
1 Kosmos, I. (1877), pp. 391-895. 
2 Glaucopis — Syntomis. The view that the Syntomidae are nearly related to 
the Zygaenidae is now abandoned.—E.B.P. 
3 Dr. Karl Jordan informs me that the “ Segelfalter ” or “ sailing butterflies ” 
include Papilio podalirius and its allies—the group called “ Cosmodesmus by Haase, 
&nd “ Kite swallow-tails,” by Rothschild and K. Jordan.—E.B.P, 
