3 68 THE PLACE OF MIMICRY 



interesting to note that this terrifying appearance has 

 been shown in certain cases to be combined with a highly 

 cryptic appearance. The larva of elpenor is well concealed 

 until disturbed, when it instantly assumes an entirely 

 different method of defence. The suddenness of the 

 transformation undoubtedly adds to the effect. 



Another remarkable group of examples includes the 

 cases in which the tail of the mimic is so modified and 

 so held as to resemble the head of its model. An 

 instance has already been described on p. 254, and 

 Mr. R. Shelford has described two beautiful instances 

 discovered at Singapore by Mr. H. N. Ridley, F.R.S. In 

 one of these the effect is mainly produced by two black 

 eye-like spots on the abdomen of an ant-like spider. 1 

 The form of the abdomen assists in the resemblance. 

 In the second example, the appearance of an ant of the 

 genus Oecophylla is strongly suggested by the form, 

 markings, and movements of the posterior end of a 

 caterpillar. Mr. Shelford speaks of ' the resemblance as 

 positively startling'. 2 In the same manner, the posterior 

 end of a large Oriental chafer {Lepidiota bimaculatd) 

 appears to resemble the head of a shrew-like mammal. 3 

 Dr. Longstaff also describes and figures the third pair of 

 legs of an African beetle (Heterochelus) projecting like 

 formidable jaws from a flower, in which the beetle itself 

 is buried head downwards. 4 



Even more remarkable are the cases in which the 

 mimicry is of a composite kind, suggesting the appearance 

 of two entirely different objects. A good example has 

 been described and figured on pp. 259-60, and an even 



references there given. For the snake-like appearance of a Bornean 

 Choerocampa, seeR. Shelford in Proc. Zool. Soc, Loud., 1902, vol. ii, p. 253; 

 of an African species of the same genus and the terrifying effect produced 

 on monkeys, see Marshall, Trans. Ent. Soc, Lond., 1902. p. 397. For 

 the effect of an African Choerocampa larva on man, see S. A. Neave, 

 Proc. Ent. Soc, Lond., 1905, pp. xxii, xxiii; for the superstitious dread 

 with which elpenor is regarded in Ireland, see Trans. Ent. Soc, Lond., 1902, 

 p. 399, and the references there given. 



1 Proc Zool. Soc, Lond., 1902, vol ii, p. 266. 2 Ibid., pp. 254-5. 



3 Proc. Ent. Soc, Lond., 1906, p. xxi. 



* Trans. Ent. Soc, Lond., 1906, p. 94. 



