PARADISE KEY SAFFOED. 401 



mon bagworm {Theridopteryx e'phemeraeformis). The larvse are 

 sheathed in these little baskets, and the female, who is wingless 

 throughout her life, never emerges, but deposits her eggs in the larval 

 skin which lines the basket in which she has developed. 



BUTTEKFLIES. 



Three of the butterflies of Royal Palm State Park may be desig- 

 nated the regal group : the " monarch," Anosia plexippus L. (pi. 48, 

 fig. 2) ; the " queen." Anosia hereniee Cramer (pi. 48, fig. 1) ; and the 

 viceroy of Florida, Basilarchia jiorideiisis Streck. (PI. 48, fig. 3.) Of 

 these the first two are closely related, but the last belongs to a distinct 

 genus, though resembling in general appearance the monarch. Both 

 the monarch and the queen are said to be avoided by birds, pre- 

 dacious insects, and other insectivorous animals on account of the ill- 

 tasting, acrid, juices secreted by them, and it is believed by many 

 naturalists that the viceroy imitates its royal companions, or rather 

 has gradually become modified so as to resemble them, owing to the 

 protection which this resemblance assures it. The male of the mon- 

 arch is distinguished from the female b}^ a black scent pouch on each 

 of the hind wings. It feeds upon milkweeds (Asclepiadaceae) and is 

 widely distributed over the globe. The Florida viceroy resembles 

 the more northerly Basilarchia arcMppus^ but is darker colored and 

 somewhat larger than that species. Its caterpillar, which has promi- 

 nent tubercules on the back, is found upon willows {Salix amphibia) . 



ZEBEA BUTTEBFLY. 



The most interesting and foreign-looking of all the butterflies in 

 the park is the yellow' and black banded Heliconius charitonius L. 

 (pi. 47, fig. 2), belonging to a tropical family, of which it is the 

 only representative in the United States. Special attention has been 

 called to this group by the naturalists, Alfred Eussel Wallace and 

 Thomas Belt, in connection with the phenomenon of mimicry. The 

 Heliconii are said to be avoided by insect-eating birds and other ani- 

 mals. They are protected, according to Wallace, by their unpleasant, 

 strong, pungent taste. Belt noticed that certain other butterflies of 

 a distinct family, and even certain species of moths resembling them 

 very closely, shared their immunity from attack. In " The Natural- 

 ist in Nicaragua " he calls attention to this fact. He tells how he 

 watched certain insectivorous birds feed their young with various 

 kinds of insects including butterflies, but never in a single instance 

 did he see them bring a Heliconius to their nest, though Heliconii 

 were abundant in the locality where the observations were made. He 

 tried to feed Heliconii to a captive monkey, who greedily ate beetles 



