( 18 ) 



took at one sweep 'of my net two butterflies, an Amauris 

 psyttalra, Plcitz, and a EwraUa dubia, which were Hying round 

 and round each other in a manner suggestive of courtship. 

 Their movements on the wing were so active that I was 

 unable to recognise them before capture, and it seemed to me 

 evident that the one must have been deceived by the mimetic 

 resemblance to its own species exhibited by the other. 



" In the exhibit which I h;id hoped to bring to your notice is 

 a West African Hypsid moth determined by Prof. Poulton as 

 Deilemera, probably antinorii, Oberth., with the cocoon from 

 which it emerged. The cocoon bears a large oumber of creamy 

 white Bemi-transparent frothy spheres which bear a very 

 strong resemblance to the cocoons of Braconid parasites. 

 The cocoon was formed during the night by a larva in my 

 possession, and it bore these structures when I first saw it. 

 Their resemblance to the cocoons of the parasites was so 

 marked that 1 did not make a very careful examination, and 

 I did not discover their Bpuriousness till the moth came out. 

 Prof. Poulton lias since pointed out that the structures are 

 very loosely heaped up on the cocoon, and that they are also 



noticea Id.- on the silky material in the immediate neighbour!) 1 



of the cocoon, facts which tend to ill moie strongly 



thai the structures are Braconid cocoon-. They doubtless 

 have a protective function. A bird, for instance, would soon 

 learn that a cocoon bearing the Braconid cocoons does not 

 contain a pupa worth eating, and it is reasonable to suppose 

 that it would likewise pass by a cocoon bearing structures 

 which resemble thi m in such a remarkable way. 



"I have obtained some light on the relationship between 

 the 'brands' <>r patches of peculiar scales on the winga of 

 male DanainaA and the double tuft of hairs which can be 



[ x 1 v i i 

 protruded from the posterior extremity of the body. In 

 January el' thi- year 1 observed a male Amauris niavius, I... 

 settle on the upper surface of a leaf with its wings expanded. 

 The insect flexed its abdomen, making the dorsal surface 

 convex, so that the extremity of the body was brought level 

 with the brands, and the tufts were then thrust out. By 

 alternately Hexing and straightening out the abdomen the 



