etected the imposture and
exterminated the feeble race before it has had time to become further
modified. The result of this growing acuteness of enemies has been, that
those mimics that now survive exhibit, as Mr. Bates well remarks, "a
palpably intentional likeness that is perfectly staggering," and also
"that those features of the portrait are most attended to by nature
which produce the most effective deception when the insects are seen in
nature." No one, in fact, can understand the perfection of the imitation
who has not seen these species in their native wilds. So complete is it
in general effect that in almost every box of butterflies, brought from
tropical America by amateurs, are to be found some species of the
mimicking Pieridae, Erycinidae, or moths, and the mimicked Heliconidae,
placed together under the impression that they are the same species. Yet
more extraordinary, it sometimes deceives the very insects themselves.
Mr. Trimen states that the male Danais chrysippus is sometimes deceived
by the female Diadema bolina which mimics that species. Dr. Fritz
Mueller, writing from Brazil to Professor Meldola, says, "One of the most
interesting of our mimicking butterflies is Leptalis melite. The female
alone of this species imitates one of our common white Pieridae, which
she copies so well that even her own male is often deceived; for I have
repeatedly seen the male pursuing the mimicked species, till, after
closely approaching and becoming aware of his error, he suddenly
returned."[100] This is evidently not a case of true mimicry, since the
species imitated is not protected; but it may be that the less abundant
Leptalis is able to mingle with the female Pieridae and thus obtain
partial immunity from attack. Mr. Kirby of the insect department of the
British Museum informs me that there are several species of South
American Pieridae which the female Leptalis melite very nearly
resembles. The case, however, is interesting as showing that the
butterflies are themselves deceived by a resemblance which is not so
great as that of some mimicking species.

_Other Examples of Mimicry among Lepidoptera._

In tropical Asia, and eastward to the Pacific Islands, the Danaidae take
the place of the Heliconidae of America, in their abundance, their
conspicuousness, their slow flight, and their being the subjects of
mimicry. They exist under three principal forms or genera. The genus
Euploea is the most abundant both in sp