204 ANDIAL COLOKATION. 



the other insect, which has given it its name of Tricliiara * 

 (Thread-tail). 



Dr. Seitz also describes f a Hnmming-bird Hawk moth, 

 which closely imitates a i)articnlar hnmming-bird. The re- 

 semblance, althongh clear enough to onr eyes, does not deceive 

 the insect ; for it makes no attempt to pair with the humming- 

 bird. And it is notorious that insects are sometimes deceived 

 into believing an insect of a different species to be a suitable 

 mate. 



If the insect, with its limited and imperfect vision (see p. 228) 

 is proof against a deception which is enough to strike an 

 observant naturalist, would birds be ? 



A more remarkable case still is })erhaps that of a Sesiid 

 belonging to the genus MdiUa. The singular resemblance 

 which the Sesiidaa, or Olearwing moths, bear to various Hymeno- 

 ptera and Diptera is a fact which almost every one can have 

 the opportunity of verifying, since one or two species are fairly 

 common — 8. tipulifonnis very common. But the Sesiidas, as 

 a rule, are not active in their habits ; they have a fondness for 

 sunning themselves upon leaves. This McUtta, which Dr. Seitz 

 observed, resembles an Anthophora, not only in colour, but in 

 Imbit. (Jontrary to what is generally found in the Sesiidas, this 

 particular insect hovers in front of a flower just like the bee, 

 which it mimics, does. 



Mr. H. 0. Forbes, in liis "A Naturalist's Wanderings,"' 

 notes the mimicry of a dragon-fly by a butterfly, Leptocirrns 

 iircncv.ua ; the butterfly was captured on the margin of a small 



* It is suggested by Kirby and Spence (" An Introduction to Ento- 

 mology," 7tli edition, p. 473 ) that these processes serve as a kind of 

 rudder to assist them when flying. We get, therefore, a clue to their 

 origin quite apart from mimicry. 



t HMtiner Eat. Zeitxchrif/, 1891), p. iTiS. 



