240 WIDTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 



other species of the genns, and closely resemliles the buttei'fl}' Danais 

 archippus^ which is common thronghout the United States, is Limenitis 

 disippus. This resemblance is thought by naturalists to be more 



Limenitis Jisippus. >rale. 



than accidental : that in fact it is a case of unconscious mimicry, in 

 which a butterfly supposedly of good flavor and thei'efore eatable to 

 birds has, witli possibly a slight resemblance at fli'st. by natural selection 

 become more and more like a l)itter tasting and therefore uneatable 

 species, until it is an almost exact mimic of it. These examples of 

 mimicry are not rare among many of the butterflies, particularly of 

 tropical countries, and some exceedingly interesting examples have 

 been discovered. 



I well remember, when a little boy, thinking that these two but- 

 terflies were the same species, and I was sorely puzzled to know how 

 two different kinds of " worms " making two totally different looking 

 chrysalides could possibly hatch out into one and the same kind of but- 

 terfly. It was not until I had hatched a good many that the truth 

 gi-adually dawned upon me. These butterflies may l)e reared in 

 numbers by searching out tlie hibernacula during the fall and winter, 

 and starting them on the first leaves of s})riiig. They should be care- 

 fully guarded against parasites of various kinds, as the collector may 

 repeat the ex})erience of my brothers, who, having a- number, put them 

 to feed out of dooi's enclosed in netting. By some means tlie parasites 

 made an entrance, and out of several hundred larvie thev managed to 



