cases of mimicry from Elojyura. 373 



of a second species of wasp marked in nearly the same 

 manner as the first. 



From the view that the three insects (two wasps and 

 a beetle) owe their similar coloration, irrespective of 

 solar influence, to natural selection, the case at once 

 becomes easy of comprehension. In the forests of 

 Borneo the greatest destroyers of insect-life on the 

 ground are lizards and birds such as the Pittas ; the 

 wasp and beetle, which frequently run on the ground, 

 are conspicuously marked with a white spot, and exhibit 

 this as a flag of danger to any would-be destroyer ; 

 no living creature would knowingly twice attack such a 

 formidable insect as this wasp. I have seen a small 

 Sphex attack and paralyse the largest of the tropical 

 spiders. It is easy to understand how the beetle, 

 having the same habits as the wasp, has ultimately 

 assumed the same garb as the wasp through the influence 

 of natural selection. It is also very probable that the 

 resemblance in colour, shape, and habits indicates an 

 even closer intimacy between the wasp and beetle, as 

 the latter may be a parasite on the wasp, when the 

 resemblance would be beneficial in a twofold measure. 

 All three are very restless, sometimes running or flying 

 in the shade, and at others in the sun, but always 

 recognisable from a distance by the white spot. 



It is also easy to understand how the moth became so 

 much like the bee, by the action of natural selection ; 

 all the Sesice resemble bees and wasps to a certain 

 extent, although their habits are widely different from 

 the Hymenoptera. The Sesice spend a great deal of 

 their existence either sunning themselves on a trunk or 

 leaf, or flying with so great rapidity as to be nearly 

 invisible. This particularly large Sesia has come to 

 resemble in coloration a large bee, owing to the survival 

 of those most closely approaching the bee, until the 

 resemblance has become perfected in the manner w^e 

 now see it, these having a manifest advantage when 

 propagating their species. 



