102 MIMICRY, AND OTHER PROTECTIVE 
into three by narrow yellow rings; and this again is 
exactly copied by a harmless snake, Pliocerus elapoides, 
which is found along with its model in Mexico. 
But, more remarkable still, there is in South Ame- 
rica a third group of snakes, the genus Oxyrhopus, 
doubtfully venomous, and having no immediate affinity 
with either of the preceding, which has also the same 
‘curious distribution of colours, namely, variously dis- 
posed rings of red, yellow, and black; and there are 
some cases in which species of all three of these 
groups similarly marked inhabit the same district. 
For example, Elaps mipartitus has single black rings 
very close together. It inhabits the west side of the 
Andes, and in the same districts occur Pliocerus eury- 
zonus and Oxyrhopus petolarius, which exactly copy 
its pattern. In Brazil Elaps lemniscatus is copied by 
Oxyrhopus trigeminus, both having black rings dis- 
posed in threes. In Elaps hemiprichii the ground 
colour appears to be black, with alternations of two 
narrow yellow bands and a broader red one; and of 
this pattern again we have an exact double in Oxy- 
rhopus formosus, both being found in many localities’ 
of tropical South America. . 
What adds much to the extraordinary character of 
these resemblances is the fact, that nowhere in the 
world but in America are there any snakes at all 
which have this style of colouring. Dr. Gunther, of 
the British Museum, who has kindly furnished some 
of the details here referred to, assures me that this is 
the case; and that red, black, and yellow rings occur 
