The Bionom.ics of Soioth African Insects. 489 



negative of the positive lorin of synaposeme character- 

 istic of the Pierine genus Mylothris. Thus very striking 

 warning characters are peculiar to this section of Papihos, 

 the fifth or Zenobia Grou]i of Aurivillius; and, further- 

 more, the character we arc specially considering, the black- 

 marked basal patch of the under-side of the hind-wing, 

 assumes a form which is unknown in Flancma, being tra- 

 versed by blackened veins and broader black internervular 

 lines. In the species of Prqn'/io last mentioned there are no 

 spots upon tlie brown triangle, only these strongly-marked 

 radiating lines. In zenohia and still more in the male 

 eynorta a few spots are added by modification of some of 

 the other markings, and it is probable that this slight 

 change is a late diaposematic response to Plancma, made 

 after the latter had gained the c;olden-brown triangle in 

 Miillerian mimicry of these dominant Papilios. 



Another important point is the fact that the golden- 

 brown triangle is larger in the females than the males of 

 cyprcvofila and zenohia which do not mimic Planemas, 

 smaller, as has already been pointed out, in the females of 

 the species whicli strongly exhibit this Midlerian approach 

 to either Plancma or Amauris. 



It must also be remembered that Papilios may be 

 excessively unpalatable to insect-eating animals as a 

 whole. Thus Mr. Frank Finn concludes that P. aristo- 

 lochiie is more distasteful to birds than DanaincV, Acrma 

 vioLv, and Delias eucharls (Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., Ixvii, 

 pt. ii, 1897, p. 614). 



The facts and arguments set forth above render it 

 probable (1) that the golden-brown triangular patch first 

 arose in the Zenobia Group of Ethiopian Papilios; (2) that 

 it was later reproduced on a smaller scale by the Acrseine 

 genus I^lcmema, the Acrseine round black spots contrasting 

 with the ground-colour in place of the radiating black lines 

 of the Pa.pilio ; (3) that, later still, other widely-separated 

 genera reproduced the character in the form it had as- 

 sumed in Plancma, e.g. Pscudaer/ea, Myinnias, etc., while a 

 reciprocal (diaposematic) tendency (see p. 426) to approach 

 the Plancma form is seen in certain species of the Zenobia 

 Group of Papilios. Several species of the group have 

 females mimicking AcraMues or Danaines. In the three 

 of these which were examined the males exhibited the 

 above-described diaposematic tendency, whiie the females 

 possessed a greatly-reduced but otherwise similar triangular 

 patch. 



