The Bionomics of South African Imrcfs. 887 



the baboons, which oat insects largely, are much more 

 cautious in receiving any food than is the Gcrcopithecus. 



20. Conclusions from Experiments on Captive 

 Baboons, Mun(J()ose, and Kestrels. (G. A. K. M.) 



[Mr. Marshall's notes on these insectivorous animals were 

 in one series, which I have analyzed for the purpose of this 

 memoir. Hence the following references in his letters 

 deal with the experiments as a whole, except in those 

 instances in which a particular animal is named. — E, B. P.] 



Salisbury, June 20, 1890. — In view of the above experi- 

 ments it seems to me impossible to regard such genera as 

 Terias, Teracohts, Bclcnois, Byhlia, etc. as unpalatable. I 

 quite agree with your excellent suggestion that distasteful 

 characters probably first arose in the larval stage and were 

 transmitted to the imago, and this view lends further support 

 to the presumed palatability of Bclcnois, for my baboon 

 ate the larvoe with much relish. Tcracolus likewise I must 

 still regard as a non-distasteful genus, at least so far as the 

 orange- and purple-tipped groups are concerned. 



I was much j^leased with the undoubted proof of mimicry 

 [in the experiments with baboons] in the case of Precis 

 scscvmus 0, for I do not recollect having seen an account of 

 direct experimental proof before. 



With Byhlia I was not so successful as I had hoped, but 

 I am inclined to attribute the hesitation in accepting this 

 species, which was observed in some instances, to imperfect 

 mimicr}^ I fully recognize the difficulty in distinguishing 

 in such experiments between Batesian and slightly 

 MiUlerian mimics, as either might be received with 

 hesitation at first, though if subsequent specimens were 

 eaten readily (as in the case of ByUia) I should think they 

 must be included in the former category. 



The eager acceptance of the malodorous Coreid bugs by 

 my baboons came as a very great surprise to me, and 

 several other results in these experiments point to the 

 great danger of generalizing on the unpalatability or other- 

 wise of insects, from the results of experiments on only 

 one kind of animal. 



Salislmry, April 2.5, 1899. — I may mention that so far 

 as my experiments go I have no evidence for the unpalat- 

 ability of Terias, Tcraculus, Bclcnois, Byhlia, Precis, or 

 Hypolimnas, whereas Mylothris and Neptis are certainly 

 distasteful to some extent. 



