eably imitated by the female tailed form of Papilio memnon.
These are both from Sumatra; but in North India P. coeon is replaced by
another species, which has been named P. doubledayi, having red spots
instead of yellow; and in the same district the corresponding female
tailed form of Papilio androgeus, sometimes considered a variety of P.
memnon, is similarly red-spotted. Mr. Westwood has described some
curious day-flying moths (Epicopeia) from North India, which have the
form and colour of Papilios of this section, and two of these are very
good imitations of Papilio polydorus and Papilio varuna, also from North
India.

Almost all these cases of mimicry are from the tropics, where the forms
of life are more abundant, and where insect development especially is of
unchecked luxuriance; but there are also one or two instances in
temperate regions. In North America, the large and handsome red and
black butterfly Danais erippus is very common; and the same country is
inhabited by Limenitis archippus, which closely resembles the Danais,
while it differs entirely from every species of its own genus.

The only case of probable mimicry in our own country is the
following:--A very common white moth (Spilosoma menthastri) was found by
Mr. Stainton to be rejected by young turkeys among hundreds of other
moths on which they greedily fed. Each bird in succession took hold of
this moth and threw it down again, as if too nasty to eat. Mr. Jenner
Weir also found that this moth was refused by the Bullfinch, Chaffinch,
Yellow Hammer, and Red Bunting, but eaten after much hesitation by the
Robin. We may therefore fairly conclude that this species would be
disagreeable to many other birds, and would thus have an immunity from
attack, which may be the cause of its great abundance and of its
conspicuous white colour. Now it is a curious thing that there is
another moth, Diaphora mendica, which appears about the same time, and
whose female only is white. It is about the same size as Spilosoma
menthastri, and sufficiently resembles it in the dusk, and this moth is
much less common. It seems very probable, therefore, that these species
stand in the same relation to each other as the mimicking butterflies of
various families do to the Heliconidae and Danaidae. It would be very
interesting to experiment on all white moths, to ascertain if those
which are most common are generally rejected by birds. It may be
anticipated that they would be so, b