192 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
a Batesian mimic ; if nauseous, it tends to be drawn into the vortex of 
one of the great Mullerian groups. 
Mimicry in Insects.* * * § — Mr. R. Trimen, in his Presidential Address to 
the Entomological Society of London, discusses the evidence in relation 
to (a) persecution of insects by insectivorous foes ; ( b ) possession of 
malodorous and distasteful juices by certain groups ; (c) rejection or 
avoidance of the insects provided with offensive juices ; and ( d ) loss 
occasioned to distasteful species by the attacks of young and inex- 
perienced enemies. It is admittedly on the co-operation of these factors 
that the theory of mimicry depends. 
Experiments as to Coloration of Butterflies.f — Dr. F. Urech used 
a thread to constrict the wings of Vanessa urticse in the pupa state, and 
observed the results. Some parts of the wing were free from or very 
poor in scales. The coloration was changed, but unequally, and never 
so as to render the species unrecognisable. It seemed as if the colouring 
was more changed outside the area of constriction than within it. In 
what way the alteration of pressure results in a change of coloration 
remains obscure. We shall, however, doubtless hear more of this in- 
genious experiment. 
Temperature and Modification.^ — Mr. F. A. Dixey gives a very 
useful summary of the important experimental researches made by 
Mr. Merrifield during the last ten years on the relation of temperature to 
modification in Lepidoptera. The changes induced were mainly of three 
kinds: — (1) general change, often striking, in the colouring, without 
material alteration in the markings ; (2) change caused by the substitu- 
tion of scales of a different colour, either singly and scattered, or so 
grouped as to cause a material change in pattern ; (3) change in general 
appearance caused by imperfection in the development of the scales or 
of their pigment. 
Experiments on Warning Colour s.§ — Mr. Frank Finn has made 
some interesting experiments with a Tree-shrew ( Tupaia ferruginea ), 
which showed that this animal has a very strong objection to the “ pro- 
tected ” Danainac and to Papilio aristolochise. It constantly refused them, 
the former absolutely, unlike the babblers previously experimented with, 
which generally showed their dislike of the Danainae merely by prefer- 
ring other forms. Further experiments with a bull-frog were not so 
satisfactory. The Amphibian appeared to object to Danais chrysippus 
more than to _D. eucharis, yet not very seriously to either. But sufficient 
opportunity for choice was not given. 
Myrmecophilous Coleoptera.|| — Maurice Pic gives a long list of 
myrmecophilous Coleoptera collected in Algiers, and describes Oxysoma 
sefrensis sp. n. 
Crickets as Thermometers.1T — Mr. A. E. Dolbear finds that, while a 
single cricket chirps with no great regularity, when great numbers are 
* Trans. Ent. Soc. London, 1897, pp. lxxiv T .-xcvii. 
t Zool. Anzeig., xx. (1897) pp. 487-501. 
X Nature, lvii. (1897) pp. 184-8 (13 figs.). 
§ Journ. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, lxvi. (1897) pp. 528-33. 
|| Bull. Soc. Zool. France, xxii. (1897) pp. 230-3. 
IT Amer. Naturalist, xxxi. (1897) pp. 970-1. 
