34° THE PLACE OF MIMICRY 



a Batesian mimic. The same argument holds with greater 

 force for the allied Precis antilope in which the resemblance 

 to an Acraea is still more imperfect. 



It will be of interest at this point to exhibit in a tabular 

 form some of the remarkable series of appearances which 

 the wet forms may display in relation to the dry in the 

 great genus Precis (including Junonid). 



S. African habitat 

 of Species. 



Forest 



[Oriental] 

 Woodland 



Species of the 

 Genus Precis. 



(Precis tugela 



\ 



Woodland and Open 

 Open, Swampy (in 

 Mashonaland) 



Woodland j 



Woodland and Open 



elgiva 



natalica 

 almana 

 artaxia 



archesia 



1 ceryne 



2 actia 



3 antilope 



Character of Under Surface of Wings: 

 Dry season. Wet season. 



Procryptic Procryptic 



Directive marks (eye- 

 spots) developed. 



Far less well concealed 

 than the dry forms. 

 Archesia I believe to 

 be Aposematic. 



] Very conspicuous ; 

 r roughly mimetic of an 

 j Acraea type. 



The types of country alluded to in the table are as 

 follows : — Forest, with heavy timber affording deep 

 shade ; Woodland, without timber, trees small, affording 

 light shade ; Open, nothing higher than small scrub. 8 



The discovery of the nature of the physiological 

 stimulus determining the two forms of Precis is a most 

 interesting problem, to which Mr. Marshall has devoted 

 an immense amount of labour. The outcome of his 

 splendid investigations under most difficult conditions is 

 not yet published, and therefore I will only say that the 

 results exhibit much that is puzzling and contradictory. 

 As bearing upon the problem, it may be stated that the wet 



] Dry form bred from wet by Marshall in 1 905 : Proc. Ent. Soc, Lond., 

 1906, p. lvii. 



' Dry form bred from wet by Marshall in 1903 : Proc. Ent. Soc, Lond., 

 1903, p. xxxii. 



8 Dry form bred from wet by Marshall in 1902: Trans. Ent. Soc, 

 Lond., 1902, pp. 418-20. 



4 Dry form bred from wet by Marshall in 1898: Ann. Mag. Nat. 

 Hist., ser. 7, vol. ii, July 1898, p. 30. 



* Trans. Ent. Soc, Lond., 1902, pp. 422-3. 



