LIBRARY

504
COLLEGE ENTOMOLOGY
butterfly in the world because of its numerous colors and other aberrations
which offer splendid examples of Batesian mimicry to the extent of mimicking
three widely separated distasteful species and in the absence of tails in the
females although the males have short ones.
The bird-wing butterflies are among the most magnificent members of this
family. The fore wings are very large while the hind pair may be quite small
J
FIG. 168. The western parsley caterpillar. Right. larva has
just attached itself by a tuft of silk at the posterior end (cremaster)
and by a thoracic girdle in preparation for pupation;
left. chrysalis or pupa of the same a few hours later and with
the cast larval skin visible beneath. (From [meets of Western
North America.)
in comparison. Among the finest species are Troides amphrysus (Cramer),
expanse 114 mm., a marvellous combination of very dark brown and brilliant
primrose yellow; occurring in Malacca and Java. T. bTookiana (Wallengren),
expanse 130 mm., a remarkable species with long narrow wings; rich velvety
black with a lateral row of seven large pyramidal.shaped lucid green spots on
the fore wings, a large green patch near the base of each hind wing, and the
pronotum and other small thoracic areas dull red, is widely distributed in
Malaysia. T. primas (Linn.), expanse 140 rom., a striking polymorphic species
in which the common form is rich blackish-brown with the submarginal borders
of the fore wings and most of the hind wings brilliant green and with two small
spots on the anterior margin of the hind wings and the abdomen yelloW. The
variety CTG!SUS Wall, has a similar combination of orange red, yellow, and black,
and the vat. urvillianus (Guerin) is azure blue, yellow, and black. It also is
Malaysian.