Millerian Mimicry 
wolf or Aguara-guazu (Canis jubatus). Both 
these species are chestnut in colour, with the 
front of the legs black, and the ears lined 
with white hair; both inhabit the same regions 
in South America. 
The second kind of mimicry—Millerian mimi- 
cry—is where one unpalatable creature resembles 
another. This form of mimicry is named after 
Fritz Miiller, who suggested the explanation now 
usually accepted, namely, that ‘“‘ Life is saved by a 
resemblance between the warning colours in any 
area, inasmuch as the education of young inex- 
perienced enemies is facilitated, and insect life 
saved in the process.” ‘It is obvious,” writes 
Poulton (p. 328 of Essays on Evolution), “that 
the amount of learning and remembering, and 
consequently of injury and loss of life involved in 
these processes, are reduced when many species 
in one place possess the same aposematic colour- 
ing, instead of each exhibiting a different danger 
signal. . . . The precise statement of advantage 
was made by Mr Blakiston and Mr Alexander, 
of Tokio. ‘Let there be two species of insects 
equally distasteful to young birds, and let it be 
supposed that the birds would destroy the same 
number of individuals of each before they were 
educated to avoid them. Then if these insects 
are thoroughly mixed and become undistinguish- 
able to the birds, a proportionate advantage 
accrues to each over its former state of existence. 
181 
