458 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



and in the sand, between marine plants, or the tubes of other 

 worms " ; and, whenever he examined it closely, " it was exactly 

 of the size and colour of the polyps of Cladocora ccespitosa." As 

 Prof. Semper concludes, "Mimicry, it is plain, is out of the 

 question ; the resemblance between the two creatures is simply 

 and wholly accidental."* The second illustration is from the pen 

 of Mr. Trimen, so well known for his entomological advocacy of 

 the claims of mimicry, and who describes a most remarkable 

 instance which came to his notice in connection with the pupa of 

 Papilio lycsus. He received from a correspondent a small box 

 containing what he took at the first glance for three ordinary 

 green chrysalids of that butterfly. Only one of these objects, 

 however, was a veritable chrysalis, the two others being the seed- 

 capsules of a plant stated to be a species of Hakea. " The tint 

 of green, the general lateral outline (especially the bulging ventral 

 convexity of the wing-covers), the projections of the bifid head, 

 the attenuated form of the posterior abdomen and anal extremity, 

 and even the slight ferruginous tips of the projections of the head, 

 are all reproduced in the seed-capsules to a very deceptive extent." 

 The chrysalis was found " in the neighbourhood of a hedge of 

 the Hakea, and if this plant had been a native of South Africa it 

 can scarcely be questioned that a strong case of mimicry would 

 readily have been admitted by observers. As a recent intro- 

 duction from Australia, however, it is clear that Hakea cannot 

 have been the model for the pupa of a Papilio of a specially 

 African group."! Mr. Belt, so well known for his excellent 

 observations in support of mimicry, gives us another warning 

 against guessing conclusions. Ant-like Spiders have been 

 noticed throughout Tropical America, and also in Africa. The 

 use that the deceptive resemblance is to them has been explained 

 to be the facility it affords them for approaching Ants, on which 

 they prey. I am convinced that this explanation is incorrect so 

 far as the Central American species are concerned. Ants, and 

 especially the stinging species, are, so far as my experience goes, 

 not preyed upon by any other insects. No disguise need be 

 adopted to approach them, as they are so bold that they are more 

 likely to attack the Spider than a Spider them. Neither have 



* ' Animal Life,' pp. 402-3. 



f ' South African Butterflies," vol. iii. p. 241, note. 



