16 



III.— EUPLOEINES FORMING MIMETIC GROUPS IN 

 THE ISLANDS OF KEY, ARU, TENIMBER, 

 AUSTRALIA, AND FIJI. 



With an Appendix on the Identity of Certain Forms of Euploea, and 

 the Description of a New Form of Female, and of a New Species. 



By GEOEGE TALBOT, F.E.S. 



(Plates I— IV.) 



This paper has been prepared at the suggestion of Professor 

 E. B. Poulton, F.E.S. It is important that as many facts as possible 

 bearing on the subject of mimicry should be published, and illustrations 

 given of the resemblances described. It is only by the accumulation of 

 a vast body of facts that we can hope to arrive at a satisfactory solution 

 of the problems presented by the wonderful phenomena grouped under 

 the term "mimicry." 



This paper could not have been written if I had not the rich 

 material at the Hill Museum to work upon, and my thanks are due to 

 to Mr. J. J. Joicey for enabling me to spend time on this study, and 

 for his generosity in bearing the cost of the plates. I am also indebted 

 to Professor Poulton, who, in the midst of his many activities, found 

 time to look over the manuscript and to make helpful suggestions. 



The material in the Hill Museum was especially suitable to the 

 present study, because we were able to ascertain the total number of 

 each form sent home from Key and Tenimber. Mr. W. J. C. Frost 

 collected in these islands for Mr. Joicey, and the collection obtained 

 was entirely representative. We can therefore see in what proportion 

 the mimetic forms exist. 



As a result of this investigation we found reasons for doubting very 

 much whether certain species with a sexual brand on the fore wing 

 were really distinct from forms in which this brand was absent. This 

 point, however, does not affect the question of mimetic likeness on the 

 same island, as the species concerned are not found together. 



