82 MIMICRY IN EAST AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES 
He soon found that in the case of these particular resem- 
blances there was almost invariably one species which far out- 
numbered all the others, and, further, that this species was 
known, or at any rate suspected, to be distasteful to its 
enemies, and was characterised by conspicuous coloration and a 
slow flaunting flight, so that, instead of making any attempt 
to escape its enemies by its activity or by concealment, it 
seemed to invite attack. On thinking over these striking 
phenomena in the light of Natural Selection a brilliant 
flash of insight revealed to him the solution which has 
been largely accepted since that time. The abundant 
butterfly generally called the ‘ Model ’ was so conspicuous 
both in its habits and coloration because, so far from being an 
object of pursuit, it was rather an object to be avoided on 
account of its nauseous qualities, and its conspicuous colours 
and slow flaunting flight had been evolved so that it might be 
immediately recognised and not suffer from experimental 
tasting, to which it would be exposed if there were no easy 
means by which it might be recognised amongst the crowd of 
its palatable companions. The scarcer butterfly, which he 
called the ‘ Mimic,’ on the other hand escaped recognition in 
the crowds of the Model and so was not regarded by its enemies 
as worth the trouble of capture, although were it to fall a victim 
it would be immediately devoured, whereas the Model would 
be infallibly rejected even if it were captured. There were, 
however, many cases of resemblance to which this theory 
could not apply because they occurred between different genera, 
both of which were known to be distasteful, or even between 
different sections of the same genus. These resemblances 
were attributed by Bates to the common action of the same 
local conditions, but some years later they received an explan- 
ation on the same lines as Bates’ earlier work from another 
naturalist working in South America — Fritz Muller. He found 
that even amongst distasteful species there was an appreciable 
amount of experimental tasting by young enemies. These 
evidently have no instinctive knowledge as to what patterns are 
edible and what are not, but have to learn by actual experience, 
and it is evident that their education is assisted by the fact 
that the distasteful species have invariably a very conspicuous 
