240 
MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 
other species of the genus, and closely resembles the butterfly Danais 
archippus , which is common throughout the United States, is Limenitis 
disippus. This resemblance is thought by naturalists to be more 
Limenitis disippus. Male. 
than accidental; that in fact it is a case of unconscious mimicry, in 
which a butterfly supposedly of good flavor and therefore eatable to 
birds has, with possibly a slight resemblance at first, by natural selection 
become more and more like a bitter tasting and therefore uneatable 
species, until it is an almost exact mimic of it. These examples of 
mimicry are not rare among many of the butterflies, particularly of 
tropical countries, and some exceedingly interesting examples have 
been discovered. 
I well remember, when a little boy, thinking that these two but¬ 
terflies were the same species, and I was sorely puzzled to know how 
two different kinds of “ worms ” making two totally different looking 
chrysalides could possibly hatch out into one and the same kind of but¬ 
terfly. It was not until I had hatched a good many that the truth 
gradually dawned upon me. These butterflies may be reared in 
numbers by searching out the hibernacula during the fall and winter, 
and starting them on the first leaves of spring. They should be care¬ 
fully guarded against parasites of various kinds, as the collector may 
repeat the experience of my brothers, who, having a number, put them 
to feed out of doors enclosed in netting. By some means the parasites 
made an entrance, and out of several hundred larvse they managed to 
