xi] CONCLUSION 145 



Ithoiniines, by Heliconius, Lycorea, Dismorphia, and 

 other genera (cf . p. 39). On the other hand such mimetic 

 resemblances as are shewn by the South American 

 Swallow-tails of the Papilio and Cosmodesmus groups 

 are almost all with the Pharmacophagus group, and 

 almost all of the red-black kind (cf. p. 43). 



On the whole it may be stated that the majority 

 of cases of mimicry fall into one or other of such series 

 as the above. If we select a case of mimicry at random 

 we shall generally find that there are at least several 

 close allies of the mimic resembling several close allies 

 of the model. Isolated cases such as the resemblance 

 between Pareronia and Danais (p. 23), between 

 Archonias and a Pharmacophagus Papilio (p. 43), or 

 the extraordinary instance of Papilio laglaizei and 

 Alcidis agathyrsus, must be regarded as exceptional. 



We have before us then a number of groups of 

 butterflies each with a series of different colour patterns. 

 In each group a portion of the series overlaps a portion 

 of the series belonging to another more or less distantly 

 related group. In the light of recent discoveries 

 connected with heredity and variation the natural 

 interpretation to such a set of phenomena would be 

 somewhat as follows : Each group of Lepidoptera, such 

 as those just discussed, contains, spread out among 

 its various members, a number of hereditary factors 

 for the determination of colour pattern. Within the 

 group differences of pattern depend upon the presence 

 or absence of this or that factor, the variety of pattern 

 being the result of the many possible permutations and 



P. M. 10 



