90 MIMICRY, AND OTHER PROTECTIVE 
species only as we have good reason to believe were free 
from the attacks of many insectivorous creatures; but 
there are other instances in which they altogether lose 
the external appearance of the order to which they be- 
long, and take on the dress of bees or wasps—insects 
which have an undeniable protection in their. stings. 
The Sesiide and Aigeriide, two families of day-flying 
moths, are particularly remarkable in this respect, and 
a mere inspection of the names given to the various 
species shows how the resemblance has struck every- 
one. We have apiformis, vespiforme, ichneumoni- 
forme, scoliseforme, sphegiforme (bee-like, wasp-like, 
ichneumon-like, &c.) and many others, all indicating a 
resemblance to stinging Hymenoptera. In Britain we 
may particularly notice Sesia bombiliformis, which very 
closely resembles the male of the large and common 
humble bee, Bombus hortorum; Sphecia craboni- 
forme, which is coloured like a hornet, and is (on 
the authority of Mr. Jenner Weir) much more like it 
when alive than when in the cabinet, from the way in 
which it carries its wings ; and the currant clear-wing, 
Trochilium tipuliforme, which resembles a small black 
wasp (Odynerus sinuatus) very abundant in gardens at 
the same season. It has been so much the practice to 
look upon these resemblances as mere curious analogies 
playing no part in the economy of nature, that we have 
scarcely any observations of the habits and appearance 
when alive of the hundreds of species of these groups 
in various parts of the world, or how far they are ac- 
companied by Hymenoptera, which they specifically 
