866 PROF. E. B. POULTOX ON THE 



Pages 825-827. 



The desirability of experiments upon the palatability of the 

 genus Melitcea was suggested by the study in 1 908 of a collection of 

 butterflies from the Tian Shan or Celestial Mountains in Western 

 Mongolia. Small as it was, the collection was suflicient to show 

 that Melitcea is a dominant element in the insect fauna of the 

 locality. The large " Skipper," Hesperia antonia Spey, was also 

 abundantly represented, and I was at once struck with the marked 

 resemblance which its under surface would bear in the position of 

 rest to that of the species of Melitcea. The striking feature of the 

 latter genus is supplied by two black-bordered orange bands 

 which cross the hind wings and stand out conspicuously against 

 the cream ground-colour. These two bands, the outer with its 

 festooned, the inner with its irregular borders, present a highly 

 characteristic appearance. The small portion of the fore wing 

 under surface exposed in the position of rest conforms, as is 

 usual in butterflies, to the pattern of the hind and appears as a 

 slight extension of its area. In spite of differences in detail, the 

 two orange bands of the Hesperid closely resemble those of 

 Melitcea, and in all essential respects the exposed under surface of 

 the former reproduces that of the latter. In the Skipper the 

 outer margin of the outer band is cut into internervular con- 

 cavities, while the inner bulges into corresponding convexities : 

 in the Nymphaline, concavities are seen along both borders. The 

 orange of the bands and the tint of the ground-colour — white 

 between the bands, greyish elsewhere — are also much paler in the 

 Skipper, but the orange pigment is probably quite different from 

 that of Melitcea and may rapidly fade. It is also interesting to 

 note that the orange bands of the under surface are represented 

 by black bands on the upper surface of the Skipper but by orange 

 bands on that of the Nymphaline. The allied Hesperia. sidce Esp., 

 with golden bands, is doubtless a co-mimic with JI. antonia, while 

 in a third closely related species, JI. carthami Hiibn., the dark 

 bands have gained a bronzy greenish or yellowish tinge, probably 

 indicating the kind of variation out of which the pattern of the 

 two first-named species was produced by selection. 



Probable evidence that Melitcea is a specially protected genus is 

 supplied by the well-known habits of the three British species 

 aurinicc { = aHemis) Rott., cinxia L., and athcdia Rott. All are 

 known to be gregarious in the larval state, and so abundant in 

 confined localities that they may be described as gregarious in 

 the perfect state also. All are slow-flying and conspicuous on the 

 wing and at rest between the flights, while individuals have been 

 observed to " sham death " when captured. Putting all the facts 

 together, it appeared probable that we have an interesting addition 

 to the list of mimics among the Paleearctic butterflies, a list 

 which is remarkably short in the western section of the Region. 

 Mr. Pocock kindly consented to test the hypothesis that Melitcea 

 possesses the distasteful qualities of a model for mimicry, and 

 Commander J. J. Walker kindly helped to obtain material for 



