704 LT.-UOL. N. MANDERS ON THE 



be distingiiislied ; when at rest the difficulty is considerably 

 greater, and I would draw particular attention how not infi'e- 

 quently butterflies of a similar pattern on the under surface of 

 their wings chose the same resting places, and often the same 

 bush or branch on which to settle for the night. The following 

 two notes indicate this. 



"Colombo, July 1909. I observed at sunset sixteen Telchinia 

 violce and some Dana/is chrysijjjms with their wings closed, at rest 

 on a leafless bush ; they exactly resembled witiiered lenves, and it 

 was exceeding difficult at ten measured paces to distinguish the 

 species, at about twenty paces it was very difficult to recognize 

 them as butterflies at all, and at thirty paces they were practically 

 invisible." 



"KuUar, Nilgiris, 12.4.1910. In a grove of Areca palms 

 Buplcea coreta, E. core, Danais limniace a.nd D. septentrionis simply 

 swarmed, they were in hundreds and hung in festoons from the 

 palms. Though many of each kind were on each leaf, they usually 

 kept together. It was deep shade, and the Euploeas seemed to 

 match the decayed vegetation and the Danaids the green leaves. 

 There were also many Danais plexlppus but no other butterflies." 

 With regard to the above quoted instances, Mr. R. C. Punnett, 

 after a study of them foi' about six weeks, writes : " With the 

 exception of Argynnis htjperhms and Prioneris sita, I have had 

 frequent opportunities of observing all these cases, and in every 

 one it has appeared to me that the resemblance is far less striking 

 when the insects are seen alive than when they are exhibited 

 pinned out in the orthodox way on cork. I have found that with 

 vexy little experience the eye comes to distinguish the mimic from 

 the model without hesitation. As a rule it is in the mode of flight 



that they differ from one another My impressions of all 



these so-called cases of mimicry which I have been able to see, ia 

 that the resemblances are certainly not sufficiently close to 

 deceive the eye of a civilized man with a little experience of them. 

 For that reason I am inclined to doubt whether they would 

 systematically deceive an enemy bi-ought up among them, whose 

 means of earning a livelihood depended largely upon the readiness 

 with which he could distinguish between mimic and model. I 

 do not wish to deny that in some cases, and upon occasion, the 

 resemblance may be of service." 



All local entomologists would endoi'se the above remarks, but 

 there is this to be said, that Mr. Punnett was aware of these cases 

 of mimicry before he arrived in Ceylon, and was on the look out 

 foi- them; if he had been totally ignorant of them, it would 

 have taken him some time before he recognized the phenomenon, 

 but having once done so, he would no doubt have had no further 

 difficulty. 



The detection of certain cases of mimicry would appear to be 

 greater in some countries than in Ceylon. Colonel Bingham, 

 writing of the Papilio ch/tia group, says : " They have nearly all 

 a wonderful resemblance to forms of Ewplcea and Danais, and it 



