POPULAR SCIENCE REYIEW. 
MIMICRY IN PLANTS. 
Bt ALFRED W. BENNETT, M.A., B.Sc., F.L.S. 
[PLATE LXXIX.] 
T HE subject of so-called “Mimicry ” in the animal kingdom 
has recently attracted no small share of attention both 
from naturalists and from amateurs. The phenomena included 
in the term are indeed such as, from their singularity and 
their apparent marvellousness, cannot but captivate even the 
most dilettante student of Nature. Mr. Bates, in his “ Natura- 
list on the Amazons,” may be said to have first introduced the 
subject to the notice of the general public. Mr. Trimen has 
recorded, in the “ Transactions of the Linnean Society,” some 
remarkable and beautiful instances among South African Lepi- 
doptera ; and Mr Wallace, in his delightful “ Malay Archi- 
pelago,” has done still more to arouse the interest of even the 
most unobservant reader. Some of the imitations depicted in 
the illustrations of the latter book are, indeed, simply wonderful. 
The object of this singular mimicry is considered, by those most 
conversant with the subject, to be a certain amount of protec- 
tion gained by the “ mimicking ” species, through its superficial 
resemblance, thus acquired, to another species, which enjoys, 
for some reason, special immunity from the attacks of enemies, 
or to some inanimate object. Whether this explanation is 
supported by a careful examination of the facts it is not now 
my purpose to inquire, the subject having been ably debated 
elsewhere. This resemblance occurs sometimes between species 
belonging to one family or order, as between one butterfly and 
another ; sometimes between forms much more distantly related, 
as between a fly and a bee, or an ant and a spider ; sometimes 
between animals and inorganic objects, as between a caterpillar 
and a twig, or an insect in the perfect condition and a decayed 
VOL. xi. — NO. XLII. B 
