HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. 
2 iJU 
as standing at the head of the group of butterflies, the Papi- 
lio usually being assigned to this position. Here, then, the 
mimickers are possibly lower in rank than the butterflies 
they mimic. This is certainly the case with the Castnia and 
the moths mentioned by Mr. Bates, and bears out our idea 
that the mimickers may have been produced in an age ante¬ 
rior to the origin of the Heliconidae, and that the causes 
which produced the one perhaps originated the other. The 
fig. 226. 
Limenitis Archippus. 
mimickers created in a former geological period may have 
been preserved by virtue of their resemblance to butterflies 
originating at a later date. 
Many of the Bombydd moths are remarkable mimics of 
other moths, and this group, with the wide gaps in it, may 
be compared to the Neuroptera with their isolated genera 
and families. I regard the Bombycids as an ancient family 
in which time has made many inroads, and the relics which 
have come down to us may have owed their preservation 
largely to the protective mimicry of the caterpillars and co¬ 
coons to leaves and other objects, and of the moths to other 
moths. 
Assuming, then, that protective mimicry has been an im¬ 
portant factor in the preservation of species, we will exam- 
2 
