Part 57 (1/2)

_Early Stages._--We know as yet but little of these.

The insect occurs in Arizona and northward to Colorado.

(17) =Papilio asterias=, Fabricius, Plate XL, Fig. 1, ?; Plate II, Figs.

17, 24, 27, _larva_; Plate VI, Figs. 13, 18, 19, _chrysalis_ (The Common Eastern Swallowtail).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The male is well represented in the plate. The female lacks the bright-yellow band of postmedian spots on the primaries, or they are but faintly indicated. The species is subject to considerable variation in size and the intensity of the markings. A very remarkable aberration in which the yellow spots cover almost the entire outer half of the wings has been found on several occasions, and was named _Papilio calverleyi_ by Grote. The female of this form from the type in the author's collection is represented in Plate XLI, Fig. 6. Expanse, 2.75-3.25 inches.

_Early Stages._--The caterpillar feeds on the _Umbelliferae_, and is common on parsley and parsnips in gardens. In the South I have found that it had a special liking for fennel, and a few plants in the kitchen-garden always yielded me in my boyhood an abundant supply of the larvae.

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE XLI | | | | 1. _Papilio machaon_, Linnaeus, var. | | _aliaska_, Scudder, ?. | | 2. _Papilio nitra_, Edwards, ?. | | 3. _Papilio indra_, Reakirt, ?. | | 4. _Papilio polydamas_, Linnaeus, ?. | | 5. _Papilio troilus_, Linnaeus, ?. | | 6. _Papilio asterias_, Cramer, var. | | _calverleyi_, Grote, ?. | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE XLI.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

_P. asterias_ ranges all over the Atlantic States and the valley of the Mississippi.

(18) =Papilio troilus=, Linnaeus, Plate XLI, Fig. 5, ?; Plate II, Figs.

18, 19, 22, _larva_; Plate VI, Figs. 5-7, _chrysalis_ (The Spice-bush Swallowtail).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side of the male is accurately depicted in the plate. The female has less bluish-green on the upper side of the hind wings. Expanse, 3.75-4.25 inches.

_Early Stages._--The caterpillar lives upon the leaves of the common spicewood and sa.s.safras, and draws the edges of a leaf together, thus forming a nest in which it lies hidden.

The insect is found throughout the Atlantic States and in the Mississippi Valley.

(19) =Papilio palamedes=, Drury, Plate XLII, Fig. 1, ? (Palamedes).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side of the wings is very accurately depicted in the figure just cited. On the under side the predominant tint is bright yellow. Expanse, 3.50-4.25 inches.

_Early Stages._--These are described by Scudder in the third volume of his work on ”The b.u.t.terflies of New England.” The caterpillar feeds on _Magnolia glauca_, and on plants belonging to the order _Lauraceae_.

The insect ranges from southern Virginia, near the coast, to the extreme southern end of Florida, and westward to southern Missouri and eastern Texas.

(20) =Papilio philenor=, Linnaeus, Plate XLII, Fig. 2, ?; Plate II, Figs.

13, 20, 21, _larva_; Plate VI, Figs. 14, 17, 20, _chrysalis_ (The Pipe-vine Swallowtail).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The figures in the plates obviate the necessity for describing this familiar but most beautiful insect, the glossy blue-green of which flashes all summer long in the sunlight about the verandas over which the _Aristolochia_ spreads the shade of its great cordate leaves. Expanse, 3.75-4.25 inches.

_Early Stages._--The caterpillar feeds upon the leaves of _Aristolochia sipho_ (the Dutchman's-pipe) and _Aristolochia serpentaria_, which abound in the forest lands of the Appalachian region.

_Philenor_ is always abundant during the summer months in the Middle Atlantic States, and ranges from Ma.s.sachusetts to Arizona, into southern California and southward into Mexico. It is double-brooded in western Pennsylvania, and the writer has found females ovipositing as late as October. The caterpillars are familiar objects about houses on which the _Aristolochia_ is grown as an ornamental vine.

(21) =Papilio polydamas=, Linnaeus, Plate XLI, Fig. 4, ? (Polydamas).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Easily distinguished by the absence of tails on the hind margin of the secondaries. The b.u.t.terfly recalls the preceding species by the color of the wings on the upper side. On the under side the fore wings are marked as on the upper side; the hind wings have a marginal row of large red spots. Expanse, 3.00-3.50 inches.

_Early Stages._--The caterpillar is dark brown, and in many points resembles that of _P. philenor_ in outline, but the segments are spotted with ocellate yellow and red spots. It feeds on various species of _Aristolochia_. The chrysalis resembles that of _P. philenor_.

This lovely insect represents in the United States a great group of b.u.t.terflies closely allied to it, which are natives of the tropics of the New World. It occurs in southern Florida and Texas, and thence ranges southward over Cuba, Mexico, and Central America.

THE CATERPILLAR AND THE ANT