Ranges from southern Virginia near the coast to the extreme southern end of Florida and westward to southern Missouri and eastern Texas.
(10) Papilio polyxenes Fabricius, [Plate CXXIII], ♂ (The Eastern Swallow-tail). (See next page.)
This butterfly and the three which follow belong to a group of the genus which in England is represented by P. machaon of the fens of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. There are many species evidently derived in past time from common stock, which are found in America, and the writer believes that the original centre of dispersion was this continent, and that the English Swallow-tail represents the most western range of the migration, which probably began in Tertiary times, when the horse, the camel, and other North American animals passed over into Asia and became subsequently extinct in the land of their origin. P. machaon still exists in Alaska as the variety P. aliaska Scudder.
P. polyxenes, more commonly known by its later name P. asterius, or P. asterias, is found all over the Atlantic States and the Mississippi Valley. The caterpillar feeds upon umbelliferous plants, and is very partial to fennel. Expanse 2.75-3.25 inches.
(11) Papilio brevicauda Saunders, [Plate CXXIV], ♀ (The Newfoundland Swallow-tail).
There are two forms, one found on Anticosti, in which the spots on the upper side of the wings are bright yellow, the other in which they are more or less red in color. The latter form is common in Newfoundland, and is shown in the Plate. Closely related to P. polyxenes, but with shorter tails. Expanse 2.75-3.00 inches.
PL. CXXV
(12) Papilio indra Reakirt, [Plate CXXV], ♂ (The Mountain Swallow-tail).
The resemblance to P. polyxenes is marked, but it will be observed that the tails have undergone even greater reduction in length than in P. brevicauda, and that the band of yellow spots traversing the wings has been reduced in width. Expanse 2.50-2.75 inches.