Papilionidae

“ The Papilionidæ are pretty widely distributed over the earth, but are especially abundant in the tropics, where they attain their maximum of size and beauty and the greatest variety of form and colouring. ”

“ Geographical Distribution.—One hundred and thirty species of Malayan Papilionidæ are now known within the district extending from the Malay peninsula, on the north-west, to Woodlark Island, near New Guinea, on the south-east.
The exceeding richness of the Malayan region in these fine insects is seen by comparing the number of species found in the different tropical regions of the earth. From all Africa only 33 species of Papilio are known ”

“ The Libytheidae may be recognized by the elongate snout-like palps, 476 the five-branched radial nervure of the forewing, the cylindrical hairy larva, and the pupa attached only by the cremaster.
The Papilionidae are large butterflies with ample wings, and all six legs fully developed in both sexes. The forewing has five radial and two anal nervures, the second of the latter being free from the first and running to the dorsum of the wing, while the hindwing has but a single anal, and is frequently prolonged into a “tail” at the third median nervure (fig. 58) . ”

“ And, among the Lepidoptera, the great and pre-eminently tropical families of Papilionidæ and Danaidæ seem to be those in which complicated adaptations to the surrounding organic and inorganic universe have been most completely developed, offering in this respect a striking analogy to the equally extraordinary, though totally different, adaptations which present themselves in the Orchideæ, the only family of plants in which mimicry of other organisms appears to play any important part, and the only one in which striking cases of polymorphism occur ”

“ The colours of this insect are unusually sombre, and present a striking contrast to the gaudy tints by which the majority of these gay creatures are ornamented; it is so far remarkable, but it is more interesting to the entomologist, as being an unpublished addition to this genus. It was discovered in Java by Dr. Horsfield; and the drawing was made from an unique specimen which I observed while engaged in a long and laborious arrangement of the Linnæan Papilionidæ, (as they now appear at the India House,) collected by that zealous naturalist for the India Company. ”

“ The differences of expanse of wings 15are in most cases very great, and are much more conspicuous in the specimens themselves than on paper. It will be seen that no less than fourteen Papilionidæ inhabiting Celebes and the Moluccas are from one-third to one-half greater in extent of wing than the allied species representing them in Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. Six species inhabiting Amboyna are larger than the closely allied forms of the northern Moluccas and New Guinea by about one-sixth. These include almost every case in which closely allied species can be compared. ”

“ As in America, so in the Old World, species of Danaidæ are the objects which the other families most often imitate. But, besides these, some genera of Morphidæ and one section of the genus Papilio are also less frequently copied. Many species of Papilio mimic other species of these three groups so closely that they are undistinguishable when on the wing; and in every case the pairs which resemble each other inhabit the same locality.
The following list exhibits the most important and best-marked cases of mimicry which occur among the Papilionidæ of the Malayan region and India:—
8. ”

“ We may conclude, therefore, that they possess some hidden means of protection, which makes it useful to other insects to be mistaken for them.
The Papilios which resemble them belong to a very distinct section of the genus, in which the sexes differ greatly; and it is those females only which differ most from the males, and which have already been alluded to as exhibiting instances of dimorphism, which resemble species of the other group. ”

“ Palmaris accessorius muscle, variations of the, i. 109. Pampas, horses of the, i. 236. Pangenesis, hypothesis of, i. 280, 284. Panniculus carnosus, i. 19. Papilio, sexual differences of colouring in species of, i. 389; proportion of the sexes in North American species of, i. 309; coloration of the wings in species of, i. 396. Papilio ascanius, i. 389. Papilio Sesostris and Childrenæ, variability of, i. 402. Papilio Turnus, i. 310. Papilionidæ, variability in the, i. 402. Papuans, line of separation between the, and the Malays, i. 218; beards of the, ii. 322; hair of, ii. ”

“ Chinese species. 61. Indian species. 4. Ceylon species.
List of the Papilionidæ of the Australian Region.
Ornithoptera (Priamus group) . 1. Ornithoptera Poseidon, Db. (Mal.) . 2. —— Richmondia, G. R. G.
Papilio (Sect. A) .
Polydorus group. 3. Papilio Leodamas, Wall. (Mal.) . 4. —— Liris, Godt. (Mal.) . 5. —— Godartianus, Bd. (Pacific Islands) .
Papilio (Sect. B) .
Helenus group. 6. Papilio Capaneus, Westw. 7. —— Ilioneus, Don.
Ulysses group. 8. Papilio Ulyssinus, Westw. 9. —— Montrouzieri, Bd. (New Caledonia) .
Pammon group. 10. Papilio Canopus, Westw.
Erectheus group. 11. ”

“ N.B. Except in fig. 1, the right side shows the upper surface, and the left side the under surface of the same insect.
Fig. 1. Papilio Thule, male. The upper surfaces of two varieties or local forms of this species are figured. The right side represents the form found in New Guinea, the left side that obtained in Waigiou. It resembles Danais sobrina, Bd., which inhabits the same countries, and varies in a somewhat similar manner (see pages 20 and 63) .
Fig. 3. Papilio Ænigma, male, from Sumatra (see page 60) . ”

“ Remarks.—This species exhibits a large amount of simple variation, in the presence or absence of a pale patch on the uppers, in the brown submarginal marks on the lower wings, in the form and extent of the yellow band, and in the size of the specimens. The most extreme forms, as well as the intermediate ones, are often found in one locality and in company with each other, indicating that over the above range continual intermixture probably takes place, and thus prevents any one form from becoming specialized in a restricted area. ”

“ Papilio Memnon, L., is one of the most striking, as it exhibits the mixture of simple variability, local and polymorphic forms, all hitherto classed under the common title of varieties. The polymorphism is strikingly exhibited by the females, one set of which resemble the males in form, with a variable paler colouring; the others have a large spatulate tail to the hinder wings and a distinct style of colouring, which causes them closely to resemble P. Coon, a species of which the sexes are alike and inhabiting the same countries, but with which they have no direct affinity. ”

“ But there is here another cause which has led to sexual differences, viz. a special adaptation of the sexes to diverse habits or modes of life. This is well seen in female Butterflies (which are generally weaker and of slower flight) , often having colours better adapted to concealment; and in certain South American species (Papilio torquatus) the females, which inhabit the forests, resemble the Æneas group, which abound in similar localities, while the males, which frequent the sunny open riverbanks, have a totally different coloration. ”

“ It is powerful on the wing, and occasionally settles on the ground in damp sunny places. It inhabits the interior of North-west Borneo and the mountains of West Sumatra. The female is unknown. It is peculiar in the great length of the discoidal cell of the wings and its altogether unique style of coloration, and must be considered as the type of a distinct group of the genus Ornithoptera.
Papilio. This is without doubt the finest and most remarkable genus of Diurnal Lepidoptera. About 360 species are now known, all, except ten, being tropical or subtropical. ”

“ Papilio Pammon everywhere on the continent is tailed in both sexes. In Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, the closely allied P. Theseus has a very short tail, or tooth only, in the male, while in the females the tail is retained. Further east, in Celebes and the South Moluccas, the hardly separable P. Alphenor has quite lost the tail in the male, while the female retains it, but in a narrower and less spatulate form. A little further, in Gilolo, P. Nicanor has completely lost the tail in both sexes.
Papilio Agamemnon exhibits a somewhat similar series of changes. In India it is always tailed ”

“ The white patch on the lower wings reduced to a small spot, or quite absent. There are many varieties of this, showing very instructively how such isolated forms of female as occur in the two preceding species may have been produced by simple variation followed by a “natural selection” of the forms best adapted to special conditions. ”

“ II; ⁠P. ridleyanus, 34, 36, VI. 6; ⁠P. sarpedon, 110; ⁠P. troilus, 45, XVI. 2; ⁠P. xenocles, 23, 111, I. 4; ⁠P. zagreus, 43, X. 8 Papilionidae, as mimics of Oriental models, 23-25; ⁠of African models, 29, 30, 35; ⁠of S. American models, 43; ⁠of N. American models, 45 Parallel patterns, in different butterfly groups, 144 Pareronia, 145, 149 ”

“ Hab. Batchian, Gilolo, Morty Island (Wall.) .
Remarks.—The absence of tails in the female, and the white submarginal lunules in the 54male, distinguish this at a glance from all its allies. It has a comparatively restricted range, and is very constant in both sexes. The plate sent me by Dr. Felder is not numbered.
66. Papilio Hipponous, Felder [14] .
14. Having obtained a specimen of this insect while these sheets are passing through the press, I find that it should have been placed next to P. Severus.
P. Hipponous, Feld. Lep. Nov. Philipp. p. 12; P. Dironus, B. M. List (no description) . ”

“ Hab. Batchian, Gilolo, Ternate, Morty Isl. (Wall.) .
49. Papilio Deiphobus, Linnæus.
P. Deiphobus, L., Cramer, Pap. Ex. t. 181. f. A, B; Donovan, Ins. Ind. pl. 17. f. 2; Lucas, Lep. Ex. t. 11; Boisd. Sp. Gén. Lép. p. 200.
♀, P. Alcandor, Cr. Pap. Ex. t. 40. f. A, B.
Hab. Ceram, Amboyna, Bouru (Wall.) .
Remark.—A simple variety of both this and the last species frequently occurs, in which all the markings on the under side are ochre-yellow instead of red.
50. Papilio Ascalaphus, Boisduval.
P. Ascalaphus, Bd. Sp. Gén. Lép. p. 200 (♂) ; De Haan, Verh. Nat. Gesch. p. 26, t. 1. f. 2 (♀) . ”

“ Paradoxa group. 44. Papilio Telearchus, Hewits. 45. —— Slateri, Hewits.
Dissimilis group. 46. Papilio dissimilis, L. 47. —— Panope, L. 48. —— Lacedæmon, Fab. 49. —— Pollux, Westw.
Papilio (Sect. D) .
Macareus group. 50. Papilio Macareus, God. (Mal.) . 51. —— Leucothoë, Westw. (Mal.) . 52. —— Megarus, Westw. 53. —— Agestor, G. R. G. 54. —— Epytides, Hewits. 55. —— Xenocles, Db.
Antiphates group. 56. Papilio Antiphates, Cr. (Mal.) . 57. —— Agetes, Westw. 58. —— Anticrates, Db. 59. —— Orestes, Fab. 60. —— Alebion, G. R. G. 61. —— Glycerion, G. R. G.
Eurypylus group. ”

“ Perhaps no better genus was ever formed than Papilio of Linnæus; its diurnal flight, its erect wings, and its clavated antennæ, at first bid defiance to the systematist who attempts to bring any other group into contact with it; indeed, in Britain we have nothing at all that will avail us in this respect, which compels me to have recourse to exotics, an assistance which I shall only avail myself of when I find it quite impracticable to furnish the approaches from indigenous species, the reference to which is attainable by every entomologist. ”

“ Papilio Acamas is scarcely surpassed in size by any other of the Papilio genus, and when it is added, as it may be with confidence, that the figure now presented to the reader is the first that has appeared in elucidation of such a noble species, we cannot doubt that its introduction will be received with pleasure by every Naturalist in this country and throughout Europe.
This fine and very striking species has been long since known by repute to Entomologists; but from the description only which Fabricius had left us in his Entomologia Systematica. ”

“ More rare is an insect with four large round white spots on dark chocolate-brown wings; and another, dark brown in colour, with eye-like spots of blue and red. Several small species, yellow, white, or brown, or silvery-grey and blue, are found hovering over, or settling on, damp places; and there are two or three white species, with black spots or lines on the edges of the wings. In the warmer season a handsome large Papilio is rather common in our gardens, with dark green and sulphur-yellow spots and markings. ”

“ Lepidoptera. GENERIC CHARACTER. Antennæ thicker towards the tip, and generally terminating in a knob; wings erect when at rest. Fly by day.
* DANAI CAND. SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS. Wings entire rounded yellow; anterior pair at the tip black above, beneath sanguineous brown.
Papilio Agave: alis integerrimis rotundatis flavis: anticis apice supra nigris, subtus brunneis.—Fabr. Ent. Syst. t. 3. p. 1. 193. n. 599.
This very scarce and pretty species of the Papilio tribe is an inhabitant of Cayenne, and may possibly occur also in other parts of South America. ”

“ Thus we have in Papilio merope a species which, in the course of its distribution through Africa, has scarcely varied at all in the male sex, but in the female has almost everywhere lost the outward appearance of a Papilio, and has assumed that of a Danaid, which is protected by being unpalatable, and not even everywhere the appearance of the same species, but in each place that of the prevailing one, and sometimes of several in one region. ”

“ Papilio Pylades is a species of the Butterfly tribe, of moderate size, in comparison with the generality of those which appertain to the same family, the Equites Achivi of Fabricius. The upper surface exhibits an appearance of much simplicity and elegance: the disk is white, and the broad black limb, or border, by which it is surrounded, is marked with a number of spots and semilunar marks of white disposed with much regularity. ”