( xliv_) 
Personally, he was not disposed to reject Bates’s theory 
which, even if of less general application than was commonly 
supposed, was strongly supported by evidence from other orders 
of insects, but he was not yet able to accept that which had 
been called by the name of Fritz Miller. What was to take 
the place of the latter? At present, nothing. Until more 
information had been collected on the habits and variation of 
homceochromatic species, and on selective agencies, there 
were no data on which a new theory could be legitimately 
founded. But he desired to call attention to a significant 
passage in Bates’s original paper on Mimicry (Trans. Linn. 
Soc., 1861, p. 501). Bates said therein: ‘“‘ The process of 
the creation of a new species I believe to be accelerated in 
the Ithomie and allied genera by the strong tendency of these 
insects, when pairing, to select none but their exact counter- 
parts ; this also enables a number of very closely allied ones 
to exist together, or the representative forms to live side by 
side on the confines of their areas, without amalgamating.”’ 
Such a statement indicated the possibility that sexual 
selection, or the segregation of forms might take place as a 
direct act of perception on the part of the insects themselves. 
If such a phenomenon were shown really to exist, it would 
remove many of the difficulties which the present theories 
entailed, and in view of Bates’s definite and repeated state- 
ments, some proof or disproof of them should be attempted 
before the Millerian theory came to be regarded as more than 
a merely provisional suggestion. 
The Preswwenr: The point had been raised by Mr. Elwes 
that the destruction of species in the imago stage was of little 
importance when compared with the much greater destruction 
of larve and pupe which took place. As a matter of fact, 
he could bear witness that certain species at any rate of 
Danais and Acrea were distasteful and protected in all stages. 
The larve and pupe of Danas chrysippus and of five or six 
species of South-African Acraw were rejected by cage-birds 
and common fowls; they were highly conspicuous (especially 
the pupe of Acrea, which are white or yellowish-white with 
orange and black bars and spots, and suspended indiscrimin- 
ately on green leaves, dark-brown bark of trees, tarred 
