202 



SUMATRA. 



[cilap. nn. 



explained by Mr. Bates. 1 That the resemblance is not 

 accidental is sufficiently proved by the fact, that in the 

 North of India, where Papilio coon is replaced by an 

 allied form (Papilio Doubledayi) having red spots in place 

 of yellow, a closely-allied species or variety of Papilio 

 memnon (P. androgeus), has the tailed female also red 

 spotted. The use and reason of this resemblance appears 

 to be, that the butterflies imitated belong to a section of 

 the genus Papilio which from some cause or other are not 

 attacked by birds, and by so closely resembling these in 

 form and colour the female of Memnon and its ally, also 

 escape persecution. Two other species of this same section 

 (Papilio antiphus and Papilio polyphontes) are so closely 

 imitated by two female forms of Papilio theseus (which 

 comes in the same section with Memnon), that they com- 

 pletely deceived the Dutch entomologist De Haan, and he 

 accordingly classed them as the same species ! 



But the most curious fact connected with these distinct 

 forms is, that they are both the offspring of either form. 

 A single brood of larvre were bred in Java by a Dutch 

 entomologist, and produced males as well as tailed and 

 tailless females, and there is every reason to believe that 

 this is always the case, and that forms intermediate in 

 character never occur. To illustrate these phenomena, let 



1 Trans. Linn. Son. vol. xviii. p. 495 ; "Naturalist on the Amazons," 

 vol. i. p. 290. 



