90 MIMICRY, AND OTHER PROTECTIVE 



species only as we have good reason to believe were free 

 from the attacks of many insectivorous creatures ; but 

 there are other instances in which they altogether lose 

 the external appearance of the order to which they be- 

 long, and take on the dress of bees or wasps insects 

 which have an undeniable protection in their stings. 

 The Sesiidse and jiEgeriidas, two families of day-flying 

 moths, are particularly remarkable in this respect, and 

 a mere inspection of the names given to the various 

 species shows how the resemblance has struck every- 

 one. We have apiformis, vespiforme, ichneumoni- 

 forme, scoliasforme, sphegiforme (bee-like, wasp-like, 

 ichneumon-like, &c.) and many others, all indicating a 

 resemblance to stinging Hymenoptera. In Britain we 

 may particularly notice Sesia bombiliformis, which very 

 closely resembles the male of the large and common 

 humble bee, Bombus hortorum ; Sphecia craboni- 

 forme, which is coloured like a hornet, and is (on 

 the authority of Mr. Jenner Weir) much more like it 

 when alive than when in the cabinet, from the way in 

 which it carries its wings ; and the currant clear-wing, 

 Trochilium tipuliforme, which resembles a small black 

 wasp (Odynerus sinuatus) very abundant in gardens at 

 the same season. It has been so much the practice to 

 look upon these resemblances as mere curious analogies 

 playing no part in the economy of nature, that we have 

 scarcely any observations of the habits and appearance 

 when alive of the hundreds of species of these groups 

 in various parts of the world, or how far they are ac- 

 companied by Hymenoptera, which they specifically 



