( Ixv ) 



laying on the food-plants of B. mesentina, and T. eupompe, 

 Klug., and T. callidia, Gr.-Sm., on another plant. 



" They are still quite common, as are many other species 

 of Teracolus, but they are all old British East African friends : 

 still I catch a dry-season form occasionally. T. celirnene is 

 commoner now than in the rains. I have caught several 

 females of this, as I believe they are not abundant in collec- 

 tions. They are very like B. severina S on the wing and 

 must be frequently overlooked." 



Another independent observation of the " false 

 HEAD " in butterflies. — Prof. PouLTON said that his atten- 

 tion had been directed by Mr. E. A. Elliott to the following 

 extract from J. Sibree's " Naturalist in Madagascar " (London, 

 1915, p. 254), referring probably to a Lycaenid butterfly : 

 " While staying near the forest I was several times struck by 

 the curious formation of the wings of one of the smaller 

 species of butterfly. The insect in question is of plain incon- 

 spicuous colouring, chiefly shades of brown, and when at rest 

 sits with the wings erect. The noticeable point is that there 

 are several strongly-marked and dark-tinted processes from 

 the hinder part of the wings, which resemble the head, eyes 

 and antennae of a butterfly, so that when at rest it is very 

 difiicult to say which is the head and which is the tail of the 

 insect. The tail markings and points are so much more 

 strongly emphasized than the actual head and antennae, that 

 it is only when the wings slightly open that one is undeceived. 

 . . . May not the reason of this mimicry of the head by the 

 tail be of some service in directing the attention of birds and 

 other enemies to the less vital part of the butterfly's struc- 

 ture ? It is evident that the hinder portion of the wings 

 might be snapped at and broken off, and yet no serious injury 

 be done to the vital parts of the insect." 



This observation added another to the long list recorded 

 in our Proceedings for 1906, p. Hi, to which must be also 

 added the note by Mr. T. R. Bell in Ent. Mo. Mag., 1906, 

 p. 128. Prof. Poulton said that there was yet another recent 

 detailed observation by a Danish naturalist to which he hoped 

 to direct attention as soon as it was published. 



W. A. Lamborx's observations on the mimetic females 



PROC. BNT. SOC. LOND., II-IV. 1917 E 



