Chap. XI. BUTTEEFLIES AND MOTHS. 409 



female having retained her primordial colouring only 

 slightly changed through the agencies before alluded 

 to ; or whether again both sexes have been modified, 

 the female for protection and the male for sexual attrac- 

 tion, can only be definitely decided when we know the 

 life-history of each species. 



Without distinct evidence, I am unwilling to admit 

 that a double process of selection has long been going 

 on with a multitude of species, — the males having been 

 rendered more brilliant by beating their rivals ; and the 

 females more dull-coloured by having escaped from their 

 enemies. We may take as an instance the common brim- 

 stone butterfly (G-onepteryx), which appears early in the 

 spring before any other kind. The male of this species 

 is of a far more intense yellow than the female, though 

 she is almost equally conspicuous ; and in this case it 

 does not seem probable that she specially acquired 

 her pale tints as a protection, though it is probable 

 that the male acquired his bright colours as a sexual 

 attraction. The female of Anthocharis cardamines does 

 not possess the beautiful orange tips to her wings with 

 which the male is ornamented ; consequently she closely 

 resembles the white butterflies (Pieris) so common in 

 our gardens ; but we have no evidence that this resem- 

 blance is beneficial. On the contrary, as she resembles 

 both sexes of several species of the same genus inhabit- 

 ing various quarters of the world, it is more probable 

 that she has simply retained to a large extent her 

 primordial colours. 



Various facts support the conclusion that with the 

 greater number of brilliantly-coloured Lepidoptera, it 

 is the male which has been modified ; the two sexes 

 having come to differ from each other, or to resemble 

 each other, according to which form of inheritance has 

 prevailed. Inheritance is governed by so many un- 



