296 Dr. Frederick A. Dixey on the 
modification of an existing pattern may suffice to produce 
an effective copy of an entirely different insect. Facts of 
this kind seem to go a long way towards answering such 
objections to the theory of mimicry as those alluded to 
by Mr. Beddard in his “ Animal Coloration,” 1892, pp. 
214, 215. 
It is very remarkable that red basal patches, like those 
of the mimicking Pierines, occur on the underside of 
the hindwing in most, if not all, of the Heliconii and 
Papilionine mimicked by members of the genera Pereute 
and Huterpe ; and in some, e.g., H. melpomene, there is 
even a well-defined yellow precostal streak, Now 
although there is no difficulty in ascribing most of the 
features in the coloration of these Pierine genera to the 
operation of mimicry, it would seem, for the reasons 
given above (p. 285, note), that the origin of these par- 
ticular marks, which are so wide-spread and so persistent 
throughout the whole Pierine subfamily, must be 
excepted. Nor, im the absence of any evidence of a 
direct causal relation, does it seem to my mind more 
satisfactory to consider the occurrence of these patches 
in the three diverse groups, Papilionines, Heliconines, and 
Pierines, as the effect of similar external conditions. 
If we assert them to be purely ‘ accidental,” we are met 
by the fact that although they are found in some species 
of both Papilio and Heliconius that are apparently not 
the subject of mimicry, yet they are most distinct and 
most prevalent in those species that are copied by 
Pierine imitators ; and the same considerations (amongst 
others) seem to show that the supposition that they are 
simply due to inheritance from a common ancestor of all 
the groups must be inadequate. Before the phenomenon 
is dismissed as inexplicable, it may be worth while to 
consider the following suggestion. 
According to the well-known principle laid down by 
Fritz Miiller and expanded by Meldola, by which these 
authors have been enabled to account for cases of parallel 
resemblance between the species of protected genera, 
and also of the grouping of allied inedible species into 
distinct sets, each with its own scheme of coloration,* it 
* F. Miller in “ Kosmos,” 1879, p. 100 ; Meldola in “ Proc. Ent. 
Soc. Lond.,” 1879, p. xx., and “ Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.,” Dec., 
1882. See also Wallace, “ Darwinism,” 2nd ed., 1889, pp. 249-257, 
and Poulton, “Colours of Animals,” 1890, pp. 192-195. 
