The Life-History and Anatomy of Butterflies 
milkweed butterfly, Anosia plexippus , which is distasteful to 
birds, and hence enjoys peculiar freedom from the attacks of 
enemies. Because this adaptation of one form to another evi¬ 
dently serves the purpose of defense this phenomenon has been 
called protective mimicry.” The reader who is curious to know 
more about the subject will do well to consult the writings of 
Mr. Alfred Russel Wallace and Mr. Darwin, who have written at 
length upon mimicry among butterflies. There is here a field of 
most interesting inquiry for the student. 
The Distribution of Butterflies .—Butterflies are found every¬ 
where that plant life suited to the nourishment of the caterpillars 
is found. There are some species which are arctic and are found 
in the brief summer of the cold North and upon the lofty summits 
of high mountains which have an arctic climate. Most of them 
are, however, children of the sun, and chiefly abound in the tem¬ 
perate and tropical regions of the earth. While the number of 
species which are found in the tropics vastly exceeds the number 
of species found in the temperate zone, it is apparently true that 
the number of specimens of certain species is far more numerous 
in temperate regions than in the tropics. Very rarely in tropical 
countries are great assemblages of butterflies to be seen, such as 
may be found in the summer months in the United States, swarm¬ 
ing around damp places, or hovering over the fields of blooming 
clover or weeds. In the whole vast region extending from the 
Rio Grande of Texas to the arctic circle it is doubtful whether 
more than seven hundred species of butterflies are found. On 
the continent of Europe there are only about four hundred and 
fifty species. The number of species of butterflies and the num¬ 
ber of species of birds in the United States are very nearly the 
same. 
