THE COLOURS OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS 139 



Clearwing moths and Hornet moths, in which protec- 

 tion is obtained by mimicking insects possessing 

 stings, and some of these are even said to writhe 

 the abdomen when captured, as though pretending 

 to sting ; others are said to have the characteristic 

 odour of the hornet. The "devil's coach-horse,'' 

 the beetle with the habit of turning its tail over its 

 back, pretending to have a sting, certainly deceives 

 children, and perhaps grown-up people as well. 



There is no doubt as to the success of this decep- 

 tion, which may deceive expert naturalists, or even 

 the insects themselves ; and Fritz Miiller says : 

 " I have repeatedly seen the male pursuing the 

 mimicked species, till after closely approaching and 

 becoming aware of his error, he suddenly returned." 



Perhaps the most remarkable instance known is 

 that of Papilio merope, one of the South African 

 swallow-tail butterflies. The female of this species 

 alone mimics ; and of the female three forms are 

 known, each of which mimics a different species of 

 Danais prevalent in its own district. In Mada- 

 gascar, which in so many other instances furnishes 

 us with a glimpse of what the ancestral African 

 fauna must have been, the female Papilio merope 

 closely resembles the male, and is not mimetic. 



In butterflies the female is more in need of pro- 

 tection, because it is of slower flight and liable to be 

 exposed to attack while laying eggs. All an adult 

 butterfly has to do is to pair and lay eggs ; and as 

 these events take up a very short time, protective 

 colouring is not very useful, but warning colours are 

 far more so. 



