Animal behavior; Animals -- Color; Plants -- Color
Of ordinary spots it is merely necessary to remark, that they are all
cases in our favour. Thus, in _Satyrus hyperanthus_ we have "the
ordinary round spots ... changed into lanceolate markings"; this takes
place also in _C. davus_. The other cases of aberration do not concern
us.
When, however, we come to the cases in which a species has two or more
permanent forms, it is necessary to show that they are in all cases
founded on structure lines. The patterns, as shown in Plate V., Figs.
1-13, are always arranged structurally, and the fact that not only are
intermediate forms known, as in _Araschnia porima_, Plate V., Fig. 6,
but that the various forms are convertible into one another, would in
itself be sufficient to show that in these cases there is no departure
from the general law. In _Grapta interrogationis_, Plate V., Figs. 8-10,
we see in the central figure one large spot above the median nervure, in
the left-hand form this is surmounted by another spot above the lowest
sub-costal branch, and in the right-hand figure this latter spot is very
indistinct. We have here a perfect gradation, and the same may be said
of the colouration of the lower wings. Take again the three forms of
_Papilio Ajax_ in the same plate, Figs. 11-13, and we have again only
modifications of the same type.
In local varieties, as in seasonal forms, we have again nothing more
than developments of a given type, as is well shown in Plates IV. & V.,
Figs. 13-18 & 1-13.
When, however, we come to mimetic forms, whether they mimic plants, as
in Plate I., or other species, as in Plates II. & III., a difficulty
does seem to arise.
The leaf butterfly (_Kallima inachus_), Plate I., offers no trouble when
we view the upper surface only with its orange bands, but its under
surface, so marvellously like a dead leaf that even holes and
microscopic fungi are suggested, does seem very like a case in which
structure lines are ignored. Take, for instance, the mark which
corresponds to the mid-ribs, running from the tail to the apex of the
upper wing; it does not correspond to any structure line of the insect.
But if we take allied and even very different species and genera of
Indian and Malayan butterflies, we shall find every possible
intermediate form between this perfect mimicry and a total lack of such
characters. To cite the most recent authority, the various species of
the Genera Discophora, Amathusia, Zeuxidia, Thaumantis, Precis, &c.,
figured so accurately in Distant's Rhopalocera Malayana, will give all
the steps.
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