In the majority of cases this is certainly true. Probably all the Old-World
Papilios that mimic Danaines are scarcer, and frequently very much scarcer,
than their models. This is very evident from a study of the more
comprehensive priced catalogues of Lepidoptera. The mimic is generally a
more expensive insect than the model, and not infrequently it costs as many
pounds as the model does shillings. But the rule is not universal. _Papilio
polytes_ is often much more common than either of its models. The
remarkable Pierines, _Archonias tereas_ and _A. critias_ (Pl. XI, fig. 10)
as a rule far outnumber the Pharmacophagus Swallow-tail which they mimic.
Or again the Chalcosid moth _Callamesia pieridoides_[28] is a more abundant
insect than the Bornean Pierine _Delias cathara_ which it closely
resembles.
It has sometimes been suggested in explanation {57} of the greater
abundance of the mimic that in such cases we are concerned with Müllerian
mimicry, that since both of the species concerned are distasteful there is
not, strictly speaking, either a mimic or a model, and consequently the
relative proportions have not the significance that they possess where the
mimicry is of the simple Batesian type. It is, however, very doubtful
whether such an explanation is of any value, for, as will appear later,
there are grave objections to accepting the current theory as to the way in
which a resemblance is established on Müllerian lines (cf. pp. 72-74).
(4) _That the imitators differ from the bulk of their allies._
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