There are several other butterflies belonging to this genus which are
rarely found and which occur only in certain limited regions. There
has been much discussion in regard to these. Some entomologists have
thought them simply varieties or dimorphic forms while others have
considered them hybrids. An analysis of the conditions shows that
these doubtful butterflies occur only in regions where the different
species overlap. Thus in the boundary connecting the Banded Purple
and the Red-spotted Purple there are forms which resemble these two
species in such a way as to suggest that these are the parents of the
hybrid. In localities where the Viceroy and the Banded Purple occur
there are other forms which seem to connect these two species, and in
the locality where the Viceroy and the Red-spotted Purple occur there
are still other forms which seem to suggest these as the parents. So
the evidence seems pretty conclusive that where these butterflies
overlap there are likely to be occasional crosses between the species
which result in these natural hybrids.
In the far Western states there are certain other species of
Basilarchia which take the place of the eastern form. One of the most
abundant of these on the Pacific Coast is sometimes called Lorquin's
Admiral (_B. lorquini_). In Florida there is another species, _B.
floridensis_, which is found in the Southern states. It is the only
one whose coloring resembles that of the Viceroy.
=The Viceroy=
_Basilarchia archippus_
The common name of this butterfly was probably given it in allusion to
its resemblance to the Monarch butterfly. For the Monarch and the
Viceroy have been closely associated in the minds of many observers
ever since people began to study butterflies in America. These two
insects have become famous as the most notable examples that we have
of the mimicking of one butterfly by another. According to the theory
which has been held by many naturalists, the Monarch is distasteful to
birds and other animals and it advertises the fact by its bright
combination of brown and black. The Monarch is thus an example of what
has often been called warning coloration. On the other hand, the
Viceroy is commonly supposed to have no objectionable taste when eaten
by birds, but it so closely resembles the Monarch in its color pattern
and its habits of flight that it has been assumed that birds would not
touch it because of its resemblance to the distasteful butterfly.
There has, however, recently been a reaction among naturalists in
regard to the validity of many supposed examples of warning coloration
and the whole subject is still open to careful investigation. (_See
cover; and plate, page 145._)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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