Mimicry in Butterflies. Reginald Crundall Punnett
is found between them (Fig. 7). In the remaining three families the front legs differ in the two sexes. The females of the Lycaenidae or "blues" have well-developed front legs in which the tarsus is terminated by definite claws (Fig. 5), whereas in the males the terminal part of the leg, or tarsus, is unjointed and furnished with but a single small claw (Fig. 6). This reduction of the front legs has gone somewhat further in the Erycinidae (Figs. 3 and 4), a family consisting for the most part of rather small butterflies and specially characteristic of South America. In the great family of the Nymphalidae the reduction of the front legs is well marked in both sexes. Not only are they much smaller than in the other groups, but claws are lacking in the female as well as in the male (Figs. 1 and 2).
Though the structure of the fore limbs is the character specially chosen for separating these different families from one another, it is of course understood that they differ from one another in various other distinctive features. The chrysalis of the Nymphalidae for example hangs head downwards suspended by the tail, whereas in the Pieridae and Papilionidae metamorphosis takes place with the chrysalis attached by the tail but supported also by a fine girdle of silk round the middle so that the head is uppermost. The larvae also afford characters by which some of the families may be distinguished—those of the Papilionidae for example having a process on the back which can be extruded or retracted.
Owing to the great size of the family of the Nymphalidae, in which the number of species approaches 5000, it is convenient to deal with the eight sub-groups into which it has been divided. The characters serving to mark off the sub-groups from one another are various. Sometimes it is the minuter structure of the tarsus, at others the form of the caterpillar or the chrysalis, at others the arrangement of the nervures that form the skeleton of the wing. Into these systematic details, however, we need not enter more fully here[11]. What is important from the standpoint of mimicry is that these divisions, made solely on anatomical structure, correspond closely with the separation of models from mimics. Of the eight sub-families into which the Nymphalidae are divided four, viz. the Danainae, Acraeinae, Heliconinae, and Ithomiinae, provide models and some, but far fewer, mimics; two, the Satyrinae and Nymphalinae, provide many mimics and but few models, while two groups, the Morphinae and Brassolinae, practically do not enter into the mimicry story.
Simple mimicry, explicable, at any rate in theory, on the lines laid down by Bates, is a phenomenon of not infrequent occurrence in tropical countries, though rare in more temperate lands. In each of the three great divisions of the tropical world we find certain groups of butterflies serving as models, and being mimicked by butterflies belonging as a rule to quite different groups. Speaking generally the models of any given region are confined to a few groups, while the mimics are drawn from a greater number. In Asia the principal models belong to the Danaines, the Euploeines, and to a group of swallow-tails which from the fact that their larvae feed on the poisonous Aristolochia plant are generally distinguished as the "Poison-eaters," or Pharmacophagus group. Of these the Danaines and Euploeines are closely related and have much in common. They are usually butterflies of medium size, of rather flimsy build and with a somewhat slow and flaunting flight. In spite, however, of their slight build they are toughly made and very tenacious of life. Most butterflies are easily killed by simply nipping the thorax. There is a slight crack and the fly never recovers. But the collector who treats a Danaid in a way that would easily kill most butterflies is as likely as not many hours after to find it still alive in his collecting box or in the paper to which it may have been transferred when caught. They give one the impression of being tougher and more "rubbery" in consistence than the majority of Lepidoptera. Moreover, the juices of their bodies seem to be more oily and less easily dried up. In general colour scheme they vary a great deal. Some, such as Danais chrysippus (Pl. IV, fig. 1), are conspicuous with their bright fulvous-brown ground colour and the sharp white markings on the black tips of their fore wings. Others again such as Danais septentrionis (Pl. I, fig. 3), with a dark network of lines on a pale greenish ground, are not nearly so conspicuous. Of the Euploeines some have a beautiful deep blue metallic lustre (cf. Pl. II, fig. 4), though many are of a plain sombre brown relieved only by an inconspicuous border of lighter markings (cf. Pl. I, fig. 10).
Both Danaines and Euploeines serve as models for a great variety of species belonging to different groups. Danais septentrionis (Pl. I, fig. 3) is a very abundant species in India and Ceylon, and in the same region there are several other very similar species. Flying with them in Northern India are two species of Papilio, P. macareus and P. xenocles (Pl. I, fig. 4), which resemble these Danaids fairly closely. In Southern India and Ceylon one of the two forms of Papilio clytia (Pl. I, fig. 7) is also regarded as a mimic of these Danaids. In the same part of the world there is a Pierine of the genus Pareronia, whose female is very like these Danaines on the upper surface (Pl. I, fig. 1). The male of this Pierine is quite distinct from the female (Pl. I, fig. 2).
The common Danais chrysippus (Pl. IV, fig. 1), found in this region, has been described as probably the most abundant butterfly in the world, and serves as a model for several species belonging to different groups. It and its mimics will, however, be described in more detail later on. Mention must also be made of the striking case of the Danaid, Caduga tytia and its Papilionine mimic P. agestor from Sikkim (Pl. II, figs. 2 and 3). In both species the fore wings are pale blue broken by black; while the hind wings are pale with a deep outer border of rusty red. Not only in colour but also in shape the swallow-tail bears a remarkable resemblance to the Danaid. C. tytia is also mimicked by a rare Nymphaline Neptis imitans, which exhibits the same striking colour scheme so very different from that of most of its allies.
No less remarkable are some of the cases in which the Euploeines serve as models. E. rhadamanthus, for example, is mimicked by the scarce Papilio mendax, and a glance at Figs. 8 and 9 on Plate II shews how well this butterfly deserves its name. Euploea rhadamanthus also serves as a model for one of the several forms of female of the Nymphaline species Euripus halitherses. In some Euploeines the sexes are different in appearance—a somewhat unusual thing among butterflies serving as models in cases of mimetic resemblance. Such a difference is found in Euploea mulciber, the male being predominantly brown with a beautiful deep blue suffusion, while the female is a rather lighter insect with less of the blue suffusion and with hind wings streaked with lighter markings (Pl. II, figs. 4 and 5). It is interesting to find that Elymnias malelas, a Satyrid which mimics this species, shews a similar difference in the two sexes (Pl. II, figs. 6 and 7).
It is remarkable that similar sexual difference is also shewn by the rare Papilio paradoxus, the two sexes here again mimicking respectively the two sexes of Euploea mulciber.
Many of the Euploeines, more especially those from Southern India and Ceylon, lack the blue suffusion, and are sombre brown insects somewhat relieved by lighter markings along the hinder border of the hind wings. Euploea core (Pl. I, fig. 10), a very common insect, is typical of this group. A similar coloration is found in one of the forms of Papilio clytia (Pl. I, fig. 8) from the same region as well as in the female of the Nymphaline species Hypolimnas bolina (Pl. I, fig. 6). The male of this last species (Pl. I, fig. 5) is quite unlike its female, but is not unlike the male of the allied species, H. misippus, which it resembles in the very dark wings each with a white patch in the centre, the junction of light and dark being in each case marked by a beautiful purple-blue suffusion. There is also a species of Elymnias (E. singhala) in this part of the world which in general colour scheme is not widely dissimilar from these brown Euploeas (Pl. I, fig. 9).
The third main group of models characteristic of this region belongs to the Papilionidae. It was pointed out by Haase some 20 years ago that this great family falls into three definite sections, separable on anatomical grounds (see Appendix II). One of these sections he termed the Pharmacophagus or "poison-eating" group owing to the fact that the larvae feed on the poisonous climbing plants of the genus Aristolochia. It is from this group that all Papilios which serve as models are drawn. No mimics of other unpalatable groups such as Danaines are to be found among the Oriental Poison-eaters. In the other two sections of the genus mimics are not infrequent (cf. Appendix II), though probably none of them serve as models. To the Pharmacophagus group belong the most gorgeous insects of Indo-Malaya—the magnificent Ornithoptera, largest