THE THEORY OF MIMICRY 145 



Upon tlieiu. Therefore what is claimed to be gained as 

 against birds is lost in a far greater measure by tlie in- 

 creased facilities given to })redaci()us insects and to some 

 reptiles and mammals that prey upon them. 



Are these the lines natural selection works on for the 

 perpetuation of species? 



In the valuable and instructive article entitled '^ \M- 

 onomics of S. African Insects," the joint work of Prof. E. 

 B. Poulton and Dr. G. A. K. Marshall, Trans. Ent. Soc, 

 1902, Prof. Poulton, in his introductory remarks, says 

 (page 295), ''the direct and indirect evidence of the at- 

 tacks of birds on buttertlies meets objections which are 

 often raised, and indeed nearly the whole of this part of 

 the paper is an eifective reply to those who ask for facts, 

 not hypotheses." 



Now, taking the evidence as given in the Statistical 

 Tables A and B, pages 319 352, of the contents of the in- 

 sectivorous birds' stomachs, which is certainly the most 

 reliable, and leaving out those experiments of feeding 

 captive birds and animals, which are not in the same 

 category, let us see how far they bear out Prof. Poulton's 

 contention that they meet the objections which are often 

 raised. Table A. The stomachs of 19 birds of IS dif- 

 ferent genera; only one species, '^ Merops natalensis/^ 

 shows lepidoptera (two moths, not butterflies) as the 

 dietary, and both these moths, Pseudapkelia apolUnaris 

 and Cirina similis, are '' conspicuous, slow, day-flying, 

 and probably distasteful species.'' 



Table B gives the contents of the crops of birds of 40 

 distinct and named species; including Capiimnlgus riifi- 

 gena, Falco suh'buteo in large numbers; Rkinopomastus 

 cycmomelas and all the bee-eaters, Oriolus larvatus and 

 all the cuckoos. Not a single species in the whole of this 

 Table shows remains of lepidoptera in the stomach. In 

 Table A Coracias olivaceiceps had eaten " a large evil- 

 smelling, bright green locust (Phymateus morhillosus, 

 L.), further described as having purple and crimson 

 wings; very conspicuous with red thorax and head: legs 

 red and vellow\" 



