14 MIMICRY— [ch. 



Malaya. It was in this paper that he elucidated that 

 most remarkable of all cases of mimicry — Papilio 

 dardanus with his harem of different consorts, all 

 tailless, all unlike himself, and often wonderfully 

 similar to unpalatable forms found in the same 

 localities (cf. p. 30). 



We may now turn to one of the most ingenious 

 developments of the theory of mimicry. Not long 

 after Bates' original memoir appeared attention was 

 directed to a group of cases which could not be 

 explained on the simple hypothesis there put forward. 

 Many striking cases of resemblance had been adduced 

 in which both species obviously belonged to the pre- 

 sumably unpalatable groups. Instances of the sort 

 had been recorded by Bates himself and are perhaps 

 most plentiful in South America between species 

 belonging respectively to the Ithomiinae and Heli- 

 coninae. On the theory of mimicry all the members 

 of both of these groups must be regarded as specially 

 protected owing to their conspicuous coloration and 

 distasteful properties. What advantage then can an 

 Ithomiine be supposed to gain by mimicking a Heli- 

 conine, or vice, versa ? Why should a, species exchange - 

 its own bright and conspicuous warning pattern for 

 one which is neither brighter nor more conspicuous ? 

 To Fritz Miiller, the well-known correspondent of 

 Darwin, belongs the credit of having suggested a way 

 out of the difficulty. Midler's explanation turns upon 

 the education of birds. Every year there hatch into 

 the world fresh generations of young birds, and each 



