240 THE COLOURS OF ANIMALS 



these mimetic forms belong. 1 Ingenious as this sug- 

 gestion is, it needs confirmation by a care.ful observa- 

 tion of the habits displayed during the courtship of 

 these species. 



Protective Mimicry in Moths 



Certain conspicuous moths are also mimicked by 

 other moths only distantly related to them. A good 

 example was discovered at Amboyna by the naturalists 

 of the ' Challenger ' expedition ; the figures are repro- 

 duced by Mr. Wallace. 8 



Protective Mimicry in British Moths 



The only examples of mimicked species known 

 in the British Lepidoptera occur among the moths. 

 Mr. Wallace first called attention to the resem- 

 blance of the female of the Muslin Moth (Diaphora 

 mendica) to the far more abundant White Ermine 

 Moth (Spilosoma menthastri), both species being white 

 with black spots, and occurring at the same time of 

 the year. The mimicked species has been proved to 

 be unpalatable, while the fact that the male of the 

 mimicker is dark coloured and well-concealed is evi- 

 dence that the latter is palatable. The conclusion 

 should, however, be confirmed experimentally, for, 

 until the test has been applied, we cannot be sure that 

 the case is one of true Mimicry rather than one of 



1 Loc. cit. pp. 384-85. 2 Darwinism, p. 247. 



