206 ANIMAL COLOKA'I'IOK. 



These instances, and many others which have been (quoted, 

 savour of such fanciful resemblances as were detected by- 

 naturalists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries between 

 animate and inanimate objects. 



A flying lizard {Dvaco sp.) found in the island of Mindanao, 

 by Mr. J. B. Steere,* is com])ared by that naturalist to a 

 butterfly ; the wing membranes are coloured blue and red, 

 and it is suggested that this mimicry of a butterfly may aid 

 the lizard both in escaping its enemies, the hawks, and in 

 capturing its own food of insects. 



Mr. Wallace's Statement of the Conditions under which 

 Protecting Mimicry occurs. 



All the examples of mimicry that have been given in the 

 preceding pages fall within the definition given by Mr. Wallace, 

 which is as follows : 



(1) That the imitative species occur in the same area and 

 occupy the same station as the imitated. 



(2) That the imitators are always the more defenceless. 



(3) That the imitators are always less numerous iu indi- 

 viduals. 



(4) That the imitators differ from the bulk of their allies. 



(5) That the imitation, however minute, is external and 

 visible only, never extending to internal characters or to such 

 as do not affect the external appearance. 



Objections to the Theory of Mimicry. 



Although the sufficiency of this ingenious theory appears at 

 ■first sight to be obvious, a number of objections suggest them- 

 selves on further reflection. 



■^ " Six Weeks in Southern Mindanao," American Naturalist, April 1888. 



