Swallowtail butterfly Swallowtail butterfly Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the largest butterflies in the world, the birdwing butterflies of the genus "Ornithoptera". Swallowtails have a number of distinctive features; for example, the papilionid caterpillar bears a repugnatorial organ called the osmeterium on its prothorax. The osmeterium normally remains hidden, but when threatened, the larva turns it outward through a transverse dorsal groove by inflating it with fluid. The forked appearance of the swallowtails' hindwings, which
Comma splice as "furthermore", "however", or "moreover") to separate two independent clauses instead of using a coordinating conjunction. Comma splices are also occasionally used in fiction, poetry, and other forms of literature to convey a particular mood or informal style. Some authors use commas to separate short clauses only. The comma splice is more commonly found in works from the 18th and 19th century, when written prose mimicked speech more closely. Fowler's Modern English Usage describes the use of the comma splice by the authors Elizabeth Jolley and Iris Murdoch: Journalist Oliver Kamm writes of novelist Jane Austen's use of the comma