102 MIMICRY, AND OTHER PROTECTIVE 



into three by narrow yellow rings ; and this again is 

 exactly copied by a harmless snake, Pliocerus elapoides, 

 which is found along with its model in Mexico. 



& 



But, more remarkable still, there is in South Ame- 

 rica a third group of snakes, the genus Oxyrhopus, 

 doubtfully venomous, and having no immediate affinity 

 with either of the preceding, which has also the same 

 curious distribution of colours, namely, variously dis- 

 posed rings of red, yellow, and black; and there are 

 some cases in which species of all three of these 

 groups similarly marked inhabit the same district. 

 For example, Elaps mipartitus has single black rings 

 very close together. It inhabits the west side of the 

 Andes, and in the same districts occur Pliocerus eury- 

 zonus and Oxyrhopus petolarius, which exactly copy 

 its pattern. In Brazil Elaps lemniscatus is copied by 

 Oxyrhopus trigeminus, both having black rings dis- 

 posed in threes. In Elaps hemiprichii the ground 

 colour appears to be black, with alternations of two 

 narrow yellow bands and a broader red one; and of 

 this pattern again we have an exact double in Oxy- 

 rhopus formosus, both being found in many localities 

 of tropical South America. 



What adds much to the extraordinary character of 

 these resemblances is the fact, that nowhere in the 

 world but in America are there any snakes at all 

 which have this style of colouring.' Dr. Gunther, of 

 the British Museum, who has kindly furnished some 

 of the details here referred to, assures me that this is 

 the case ; and that red, black, and yellow rings occur 



