( xliii ) 



and therefore resembled each other, in Bourbon the female of 

 the indigenous species (P. phorhanta) was brown and quite un- 

 like the male. He attributed this to the effects of mimicry, 

 Eaphea goudoti being the model. It had since been suggested 

 to him by Professor Poulton and Mr. Trimen that Euplcea 

 eiiplion resembled both P. phorhanta and Salamis a'ngustina far 

 more closely than E. youdoti, and they were of opinion that 

 this had been the model for the two species. Against this 

 view was the fact that E. euplion was strictly confined to 

 Mauritius, and no record of its occurrence in Bourbon was 

 forthcoming. This undoubtedly closer resemblance of eitphon 

 had led him to further investigate the matter, and there ap- 

 peared to be two hypotheses to account for its disappearance : 

 either goudoti was a modified descendant of euphon, or in some 

 way it had replaced it. With regard to the first point he 

 showed essential differences between the two ; goudoti being 

 more closely connected with that group of Eriploeas placed by 

 Moore in the genus Vadehra, and euplion with those in his 

 genus Nifara. He then discussed the possibly Malayan origin 

 of goudoti, and remarked more particularly on its extraordinary 

 resemblance to E. woodfordi from the Solomon Islands, and 

 expressed the opinion that all the Euplceas of this group were 

 derived from the same ancestral type, and suggested E. 

 climena from Amboina and Ceram as being nearest to it. He 

 dealt with the former history of Mauritius and Bourbon, and 

 explained that both during the Dutch and French occupation 

 in the seventeentli and eighteenth centuries a large number of 

 Malayan plants were introduced into those islands, and that 

 inasmuch as the voyage from Java was only of three weeks to 

 a month's duration, there was no inherent improbability of 

 E. goudoti being brought to Bourbon by one of the Dutch or 

 French ships. He concluded by describing the jjhysical 

 characteristics of the island, and said that the area favourable 

 for the existence of Euploias was extremely small, and as the 

 larvfe of goudoti and PAiplion fed on the same plants there was 

 in all probability a struggle for existence set up in which the 

 invader proved the stronger and eventually exterminated its 

 rival. 



Professor Poulton desired to congratulate Colonel Manders 



