Darwinism (1889): An exposition of the theory of natural selection, with some of its applicationsWallace, Alfred Russel
Science
Darwinism (1889): An exposition of the theory of natural selection, with some of its applications
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Evolution; Natural selection
In Africa exactly similar phenomena recur, species of Papilio and of
Diadema mimicking Danaidae or Acraeidae with the most curious accuracy.
Mr. Trimen, who studied this subject in South Africa, has recorded eight
species or varieties of Diadema, and eight of Papilio, which each mimic
some species of Danais; while eight species or varieties of Panopaea
(another genus of Nymphalidae), three of Melanitis (Eurytelidae), and
two of Papilio, resemble with equal accuracy some species of
Acraea.[102] He has also independently observed the main facts on which
the explanation of the phenomenon rests,--the unpleasant odour of the
Danais and Acraea, extending to their larvae and pupae; their great
abundance, slow flight, and disregard of concealment; and he states that
while lizards, mantidae, and dragonflies all hunt butterflies, and the
rejected wings are to be found abundantly at some of their
feeding-places, those of the two genera Danais and Acraea were never
among them.
The two groups of the great genus Papilio (the true swallow-tailed
butterflies) which have been already referred to as having the special
characteristics of uneatable insects, have also their imitators in other
groups; and thus, the belief in their inedibility--derived mainly from
their style of warning coloration and their peculiar habits--is
confirmed. In South America, several species of the "Aeneas" group of
these butterflies are mimicked by Pieridae and by day-flying moths of
the genera Castnia and Pericopis. In the East, Papilio hector, P.
diphilus, and P. liris, all belonging to the inedible group, are
mimicked by the females of other species of Papilio belonging to very
distinct groups; while in Northern India and China, many fine day-flying
moths (Epicopeia) have acquired the strange forms and peculiar colours
of some of the large inedible Papilios of the same regions.
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