254 TlinORIES 01' MIMICRY 



recently been anaKsed in much detail b\' Portschinski.^ 

 This acute observer considers that the head of the larva 

 represents the i^lobular abdomen of the ant. Avhile the 

 head and antennae of the latter are suo^crested by the larval 

 caudal shield with its two appendacres. He believes that 

 the disturbed larva represents an ant which has seized 

 and is cndeavourini,^ to carr)' oil some object on the 

 branch which it is exploring-. Under these circumstances 

 the head of the ant. with its mandibles fixed in the object, 

 would l)c held low and remain motionless, while the 

 abdomen would ])e elevated and the lei^s in constant 

 activit)', moving the posterior part of the body from side 

 to side. Such an appearance and such movements, he 

 maintains, are strong])- suggested by the disturbed larva 

 if we onl)- identify the posterior end of the mimic with 

 the anterior (tw(\ of the model. I have to thank Professor 

 W. R. Morfill for very kindly translating the memoir of 

 the Russian naturalist. During the summer of 1898 

 I had the opportunit)' of studying these larvae. The 

 \oung caterpillars were thought to be ants by all the 

 Iriends to whom they were shown. One lady considered 

 that they were * double ants' — an interpretation evidentl)' 

 due to their disproportionate length and to the head-like 

 appearance of the caudal shield. Drawings of the larvae 

 at this stage were made by Mr. P. J. Hayzand and arc 

 reproduced in T'lg. 2 (p .253), but they Hiil to convey the 

 ant-like appearance which depends so largely on move- 

 ment. I did not, however, observe any attitudes which 

 support the details of Portschinski's interpretation, nor 

 did I witness the appearances which he figures.- His 

 comi)arison of the caudal apj)endage with a head was, on 

 the other hand, entirely confirmed. 



Turning to other Orders which supply examples of the 

 mimicry of ants, the I Iemii)tera have perhaps the farthest 

 distance to travel in the modification of their fiattened 

 bodies. A beautiful example froni East Africa, viz. that 

 of IiIyr))ioplasla niira (Gerstaecker), is shown in Fig. 3. 

 Gerstaecker states that a single specimen of this insect 



' Coloration marquanle el Tachcs ocdle'cs, W : Si. Petersburg, 1897, p. 44. 



- 1. c. p. 45. fig. 21. 



