MIMETIC ASSOCIATIONS 



39 



remarks that the female of that species resembles the male, and does not show any modifica- 

 tion towards D. chrysippus ; a fact which he explains by the non-occurrence of the model 

 in that region. It is true that the typical form of the Danaine is not found in that continent, 

 but the form D. petilia, Stoll., does occur there. D. petilia seems to be more allied to the dark 

 form cratippus which is found in Java, and the more reasonable supposition seems to be that 

 either the extension of petilia to Australia is too recent to have affected the Argynnis, or that 

 the latter is, as Butler described it, a distinct species ; and since it has become estabhshed 

 in Australia before the advent of the Danaine, mimicry of the latter is unnecessary for its 

 continuance. In Southern India there are females of A. hyperhius which resemble the 

 males, as well as chrysippus-like forms, thus showing a more primitive condition than that 

 obtaining in other portions of the range of the species. In Java, where D. chrysippus is 

 represented by its peculiarly dark cratippus form, the female of A . hyperbius is much deeper 

 and richer in colour. Speaking of the female of this species, De Niceville remarks, ' there 

 is no doubt that this distinctive type of coloration has been acquired by the female as a pro- 

 tection against its enemies, as, on the wing, that sex passes very well for a Danais chrysippus, 

 which is a highly protected butterfly.' 



In the Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc, 1890, Mr, J, Betham writes, ' The male has 

 all the characteristics of the typical fritillary, dashing about in flight and fanning its wings 

 when settled, just in the same sharp manner. The female is a more or less close imitation 

 of Danais genutia,^ and in flight looks very like the butterfly it mimics.' Commander J. J. 

 Walker, writing in Trans. Ent. Soc, 1895, says, ' The female bears a striking resemblance to 

 Cethosia hihlis^ as well as to Danais chrysippus when on the wing.' 



At the meeting of the Entomological Society in May, 1909, Mr. T. B. Fletcher exhibited 

 females of A. hyperhius taken in Ceylon, and stated that under natural conditions the 

 likeness between model and mimic was exceedingly close and deceptive, and that on his 

 first acquaintance with the insect he was entirely deceived until it settled on a flower. He 

 also remarked that the flight of the female is slow, and quite different from the sailing flight 

 of the male. When viewed in the cabinet A . hyperhius is not a particularly good mimic of 

 D. chrysippus, so that the above observations by those who have seen the species alive are 

 ■the more interesting as indicating indirectly how efficient must be the more accurate imitation 

 of such species as H. misippus and others already described. 



ACRAEA MIMA. 



Neave, Proc. Zool. Soc, pi. i, ff. 8, 9 (1910), 



Plate III, Fig. 5, o^. 



This beautiful and distinct species of Acraea was taken by Neave in North-East 

 Rhodesia, and is described by him in his very extensive paper in Proc. Zool. Soc, 1910.^ 



The figure on Plate II shows the upperside of the male. On the underside the spots 

 are more distinct. The fore-wing has the basal area pink, and the apical region sulphur 

 yellow with ochreous internervular rays. The margin black. The hind-wing is pinkish- 



1 A species allied to D. chrysippus and somewhat 

 resembling it. 



2 A species which itself mimics D. chrysippus. 

 The family facies of the genus Cethosia are such as to 

 render mimicry of chrysippus very easy, and in one 



species, viz. C. penihesilea, the resemblance is 

 remarkably accurate. 



^ ' Zoological Collections from Northern Rhodesia 

 and Adjacent Territories. Lepidoptera Rhopalocera.' 

 S. A. Neave, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1910. 



