( 2 ) 



bush.' This obviously discounts the value of the observations 

 made in Peru, considered as evidence of the exclusion of 

 Heliconius from the mimetic combination. Ko stress need be 

 laid on the mention of //. hielpomene instead of one of the 

 forms which so closely resemble it, as for instance //. hydarus, 

 inasmuch as before the publication of E,iffarth and Stichel's 

 excellent systematic work on the genus, many of the me^jo- 

 mene-like forms were but vaguely distinguished from one 

 another ; and even now it is very probable that by those who 

 do not happen to have made a special study of the genus, forms 

 are inadvertently spoken of as melpomene which are really 

 quite distinct from that species as at present defined. In 1896 

 I used H. 7nelpomene as an illustration ; but in the earlier 

 passage then referred to, I spoke of the resemblance as being 

 shared by many species of Heliconius, including H. hydarus 

 (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1894, p. 294 and note; ibid., 1896, 

 pp. 72-75). The argument, whatever it may be worth, would 

 of course remain unaffected even if it were shown that species 

 had been wrongly identified. 



" But leaving this part of the question, I wish to draw 

 attention to the very wide prevalence of this general type of 

 pattern (a dark wing-surface crossed by a diagonal reddish 

 band) in the Neotropical region, as exemplified by the speci- 

 mens I now exhibit. Opinions may differ as to how far these 

 various forms are in mimetic relation ; that such a relation 

 exists between some at least of them will I think be generally 

 admitted. For instance, the mimetic parallelism between the 

 two sections of Heliconius, which Mr. Kaye has so fully 

 demonstrated to us (Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1907, pp. xiv-xvi), 

 seems to be vmdeniable. The relation also between the Fapilio 

 and the Pierines in this exhibit can scarcely be doubted. It is 

 true that the latter combination, which, as Mr. Kaye says, is 



[liii 

 no doubt mainly an upland assemblage, falls somewhat apart in 

 aspect from the melpomene-like Heliconii, but it is to be observed 

 that the latter are not entirely confined to the lowlands. Two 

 species from Ecuador here shown {H. vidcanus and H. cyrbia) 

 are from series captured at an elevation of 3500 feet, which is 

 quite high enough for any Pereuie. Still more important is 



