( xxxvii ) 



Professor Meldola, who has done so much good work at the 

 subject, what a plethora of facts we are at present suffering 

 from with regard to Mimicry, and how necessary it is to make 

 the attempt at all events to reduce them to some order : since 

 the date of his address much has been added to our knowledge 

 of the subject with regard to the Lepidoptera, but very little has 

 been done in the case of other Orders, and I therefore propose 

 to say something with regard to Protective Kesemblance and 

 Mimicry as affecting the Coleoptera, not however omitting 

 references to other orders of insects, where they may seem to 

 have any bearing upon the part of the subject under discussion. 



Now in the case of the Lepidoptera the chief argument 

 put forward by the opponents of the theory of Mimicry is 

 much as follows : — "The chief instances of Mimicry which have 

 hitherto been noticed, occur among the butterflies : and, for 

 the fact to be significant, we must, of course, presuppose that 

 the butterflies are largely preyed upon by birds, lizards, etc. : 

 otherwise the whole raison d'etre of the theory falls to the 

 ground \ now it is very rarely that in our country we see a 

 bird catch a butterfly, and, when it does, it seems to do it as 

 much out of wantonness as for food, and collectors in tropical 

 countries tell us the same ; we ought, therefore, in the present 

 state of our knowledge, to leave the whole question in abey- 

 ance, for no deductions can have any weight when drawn from 

 such unsound premisses." 



We need not discuss the question as far as it affects the 

 Lepidoptera, further than to say that there is strong evidence 

 that butterflies are eaten by birds, but even granting that 

 they are not, when we come to the Coleoptera, we have an easy 

 and obvious means of proving that they form a large part 

 of the food of many birds and reptiles : the soft body of a 

 butterfly, after the wings have been torn off, is very easily 

 digested and absorbed, whereas the beetles, being possessed of 

 a hard integument, remain in the crop of the bird or in the 

 stomach of a toad or frog for a considerable time in a more 

 or less unaltered condition : the elytra, especially, appear to 

 continue intact, and from these the families, genera or even 

 species of the beetles may be determined : if, therefore, we 

 find a large number belonging to a particular genus in the 



