Mimicry in Butterflies/Chapter 6

Having reviewed briefly some of the most striking phenomena of what has been termed mimicry, we may now inquire whether there are good grounds for supposing that these resemblances have been brought about through the operation of natural selection or whether they are due to some other cause. If we propose to offer an explanation in terms of natural selection we are thereby committed to the view that these resemblances are of the nature of adaptation. For unless we grant this we cannot suppose that natural selection has had anything to do either with their origin or with their survival. Granting then for the present the adaptational nature of these mimetic resemblances, we may attempt to deduce from them what we can as to the mode of operation of natural selection. In doing so we shall bear in mind what may be called the two extreme views: viz. (a) that the resemblance has been brought about through the gradual accumulation of very numerous small variations in the right direction through the operation of natural selection, and (b) that the mimetic form came into being as a sudden sport or mutation, and that natural selection is responsible merely for its survival and the elimination of the less favoured form from which it sprang.

There is a serious difficulty in the way of accepting the former of these two views. If our two species, model and would-be mimic are, to begin with, markedly different in pattern, how can we suppose that a slight variation in the direction of the model on the part of the latter would be of any value to it? Take for example a well-known South American case—the resemblance between the yellow, black, and brown Ithomiine, Mechanitis saturata (Pl. X, fig. 7) and the Pierine, Dismorphia praxinoe (Pl. X, fig. 3). The latter belongs to the family of the "whites," and entomologists consider that in all probability its ancestral garb was white with a little black like the closely allied species D. cretacea (Pl. X, fig. 1). Can we suppose that in such a case a small development of brown and black on the wings would be sufficient to recall the Ithomiine and so be of service to the Dismorphia which possessed it? Such a relatively slight approach to the Ithomiine colouring is shewn by the males of certain South American "whites" belonging to the genus Perrhybris (Pl. X, figs. 4 and 5). But the colour is confined to the under-surface and the butterflies possessing it could hardly be confused with a Mechanitis more than their white relations which entirely lack such a patch of colour. If birds regarded white butterflies as edible it is difficult to suppose that they would be checked in their attacks by a trifling patch of colour while the main ground of the insect was still white. But unless they avoided those with the small colour patch there would be an end of natural selection in so far as the patch was concerned, and it would have no opportunity of developing further through the operation of that factor. This is the difficulty of the initial variation which has been clearly recognised by most of the best known supporters of the theory of mimicry. Bates himself offered no suggestion as to the way in which such a form as a Pierid could be conceived of as beginning to resemble an Ithomiine. Wallace supposed that the Ithomiines were to start with not so distinct from many of the edible forms as they are to-day, and that some of the Pierines inhabiting the same district happened to be sufficiently like some of the unpalatable forms to be mistaken for them occasionally.

The difficulty of the initial variation had also occurred to Darwin, and he discusses it in an interesting passage which is so important that we may quote it here in full:


 * It should be observed that the process of imitation probably never commenced between forms widely dissimilar in colour. But starting with species already somewhat like each other, the closest resemblance, if beneficial, could readily be gained by the above means; and if the imitated form was subsequently and gradually modified through any agency, the imitating form would be led along the same track, and thus be altered to almost any extent, so that it might ultimately assume an appearance or colouring wholly unlike that of the other members of the family to which it belonged. There is, however, some difficulty on this head, for it is necessary to suppose in some cases that ancient members belonging to several distinct groups, before they had diverged to their present extent, accidentally resembled a member of another and protected group in a sufficient degree to afford some slight protection; this having given the basis for the subsequent acquisition of the most perfect resemblance.

Both Darwin and Wallace recognised clearly this difficulty of the initial variations, and both suggested a means of getting over it on similar lines. Both supposed that in general colour and pattern the groups to which model and mimic belonged were far more alike originally than they are to-day. They were in fact so much alike that comparatively small variations in a favourable direction on the part of the mimic would lead to its being confused with the unpalatable model. Then as the model became more and more conspicuously coloured, as it developed a more and more striking pattern warning would-be enemies of its unpleasant taste, the mimic gradually kept pace with it through the operation of natural selection, in the shape of the discriminating enemy, eliminating those most unlike the model. The mimic travelled closely in the wake of the model, coaxed as it were by natural selection, till at last it was far removed in general appearance from the great majority of its near relations.

In this way was offered a comparatively simple method of getting over the difficulty of applying the principle of natural selection to the initial variations in a mimetic approach on the part of one species to another. But it did not escape Darwin's penetration that such an argument would not always be easy of application—that there might be cases where a given model was mimicked by members of several groups of widely differing ancestral pattern, and that in these cases it would be difficult to conceive of members of each of the several groups shewing simultaneous variations which would render them liable to be mistaken for the protected model. The difficulty may perhaps be best illustrated if we consider a definite case.

It is a feature of mimetic resemblances among butterflies that a given species in a given locality may serve as a model for several other species belonging to unrelated groups. Generally such mimics belong to presumably palatable species, but other presumably unpalatable species may also exhibit a similar coloration and pattern. In this way is formed a combine to which the term "mimicry ring" has sometimes been applied. An excellent example of such a mimicry ring is afforded by certain species of butterflies in Ceylon, and is illustrated on Plate IV. It is made up in the first place of two species belonging to the presumably distasteful Danaine group, viz. Danais chrysippus and D. plexippus. The latter is a rather darker insect but presents an unmistakable general likeness to D. chrysippus. Those who believe in Müllerian mimicry would regard it as an excellent example of that phenomenon. For those who believe only in Batesian mimicry D. plexippus, being the scarcer insect, must be regarded as the mimic and D. chrysippus as the model. In both of these species the sexes are similar, whereas in the other three members of the "ring" the female alone exhibits the resemblance. One of these three species is the common Nymphaline, Hypolimnas misippus, of which the female bears an extraordinary likeness to D. chrysippus when set and pinned out on cork in the ordinary way. The male, however (Pl. IV, fig. 8), is an insect of totally different appearance. The upper surfaces of the wings are velvety black with a large white patch bordered with purple in the middle of each. The "ring" is completed by the females of Elymnias undularis and Argynnis hyperbius. The former of these belongs to the group of Satyrine butterflies and the female is usually regarded as a mimic of D. plexippus, which it is not unlike in so far as the upper surface of the wings is concerned. Here again the male is an insect of totally dissimilar appearance. Except for a border of lighter brown along the outer edges of the hind wings the upper surface is of a uniform deep purple-brown all over (Pl. IV, fig. 6). In Argynnis hyperbius the appearance is in general that of the Fritillary group to which it belongs. But in the female the outer portion of the fore wings exhibits much black pigment and is crossed by a broad white band similar to that found in the same position on the wing of D. plexippus (Pl. IV, fig. 2).

Of the five species constituting this little "mimicry ring" in Ceylon two, on the current theory of mimicry, are to be regarded as definitely unpalatable, one (H. misippus) as doubtfully so, while the Satyrine and the Fritillary are evidently examples of simple or Batesian mimicry.

Now such examples as this of simultaneous mimicry in several species are of peculiar interest for us when we come to inquire more closely into the process by which the resemblances can be supposed to have been brought about. Take for example the case of E. undularis. The male is evidently an unprotected insect in so far as mimicry is concerned, while the female exhibits the general pattern and coloration characteristic of the warningly coloured and presumably distasteful species D. plexippus or D. chrysippus. If we are to suppose this to have been brought about by the operation of natural selection it is clear that we must regard the colour and pattern of the male as the original colour and pattern of both sexes. For natural selection cannot be supposed to have operated in causing the male to pass from a protected to an unprotected condition, or even in causing him to change one unprotected condition for another. Probably all adherents of the mimicry theory would be agreed in regarding the male of Elymnias undularis as shewing the ancestral coloration of the species, and in looking upon the female as having been modified to her own advantage in the direction of D. plexippus. The question that we have to try to decide is how this has come about—whether by the accumulation of slight variations, or whether by a sudden change or mutation in the pattern and colour of the female by which she came to resemble closely the Danaine. It is clear that if D. plexippus were what it is to-day before the mimetic approach on the part of E. undularis began, small variations in the latter would have been of no service to it. The difference between the two species would have been far too great for individuals exhibiting slight variation in the direction of D. plexippus to stand any chance of being confused with this species. And unless such confusion were possible natural selection could not work. There is, however, an immediate way out of the difficulty. We may suppose that the coloration of the male of the mimic, E. undularis, is not only the ancestral colour of its own species but also of the model. D. plexippus on this supposition was very like E. undularis, of which both sexes were then similar to what the male is to-day. The pattern is, however, an inconspicuous one, and it can be imagined that it might be to the advantage of D. plexippus to don a brighter garb for the advertisement of its unpleasant qualities. Variations in the direction of a more conspicuous pattern would for that reason tend to be preserved by natural selection, until eventually was evolved through its means the well-marked pattern so characteristic of the model to-day. If in the meantime variations in the same direction occurred among the females of E. undularis these would tend to be preserved through their resemblance to the developing warning pattern of the distasteful Danaine model. The development of model and mimic would proceed pari passu, but if the sexes of the mimic differ, as in this case, we must suppose the starting-point to have been the condition exhibited by the male of the mimicking species.

But Argynnis hyperbius is also a species in which the female mimics D. plexippus; and by using the same argument as that just detailed for Elymnias undularis we can shew that the Danaine model, D. plexippus, must also have been like the male of Argynnis hyperbius. And if the resemblance of A. hyperbius was developed subsequently to that of E. undularis, then both D. plexippus and E. undularis must at one time have been like the male of A. hyperbius, a proposition to which few entomologists are likely to assent. Further, since the female of H. misippus also comes into the plexippus-chrysippus combine we must suppose that these species must at some time or another have passed through a pattern stage like that of the misippus male.

It is scarcely necessary to pursue this argument further, for even the most devoted adherents of the theory of mimicry as brought about by the operation of natural selection on small variations are hardly likely to subscribe to the phylogenetic consequences which it must entail in cases where a model is mimicked by the females of several species whose males are widely dissimilar in appearance.

Even if we suppose the two Danaines to have been originally like the male of one of the three mimics, we must still suppose that the females of the other two originated as "sports," sufficiently near to Danaines to be confused with them. But if such sports can be produced suddenly by some mutational process not at present understood, why should not these sports be the females of the three mimicking species as we see them at present? Why need we suppose that there were intermediate stages between the mimicking female and the original hypothetical female which was like the male? If a sport occurred which was sufficiently similar to an unpalatable species to be confused with it, it is theoretically demonstrable that, although relatively scarce to start with, it would rapidly increase at the expense of the unprotected male-like female until the latter was eliminated. We shall, however, return in a later chapter (p. 96) to the argument by which this view can be supported.

So far we have discussed what we called the two extreme views as to the way in which a mimetic resemblance may be supposed to have originated. Of the two that which assumes the resemblance to have been brought about by a succession of slight variations must also assume that model and mimic were closely alike to start with, and this certainly cannot be true in many cases. On the other hand, there is so far no reason against the idea of supposing the resemblance to have originated suddenly except what to most minds will probably appear its inherent improbability.

There are writers on these questions of mimicry who adopt a view more or less intermediate between those just discussed. They regard the resemblance as having arisen in the first place as a sport of some magnitude on the part of the mimic, rendering it sufficiently like the model to cause some confusion between the two. A rough-hewn resemblance is first brought about by a process of mutation. Natural selection is in this way given something to work on, and forthwith proceeds to polish up the resemblance until it becomes exceedingly close. Natural selection does not originate the likeness, but, as soon as a rough one has made its appearance, it comes into operation and works it up through intermediate stages into the finished portrait. It still plays some part in the formation of a mimetic resemblance though its rôle is now restricted to the putting on of the finishing touches. Those who take this view hold also that the continued action of natural selection is necessary in order to keep the likeness up to the mark. They suppose that if selection ceases the likeness gradually deteriorates owing to the coming into operation of a mysterious process called regression. This idea involves certain conceptions as to the nature of variation which we shall discuss later.

Though it is difficult to regard Batesian mimicry as produced by the accumulation of small variations through natural selection, it is perhaps rather more plausible to suppose that such a process may happen in connection with the numerous instances of Müllerian mimicry. For since the end result is theoretically to the advantage of both species instead of but one, it is possible to argue that the process would be simplified by their meeting one another halfway, as Müller himself originally suggested. Variations on the part of each in the direction of the other would be favourably selected, the mimicry being reciprocal.

Difficulties, however, begin to arise when we inquire into the way in which this unification of pattern may be conceived of as having come about. By no one have these difficulties been more forcibly presented than by Marshall in an able paper published a few years ago, and perhaps the best way of appreciating them is to take a hypothetical case used by him as an illustration.

Let us suppose that in the same area live two equally distasteful species A and B, each with a conspicuous though distinct warning pattern, and each sacrificing 1000 individuals yearly to the education of young birds. Further let it be supposed that A is a common species of which there are 100,000 individuals in the given area, while B is much rarer, and is represented by 5000. The toll exacted by young birds falls relatively more lightly upon A than upon B, for A loses only 1%, whereas B&apos;s loss is 20%. Clearly if some members of B varied so that they could be mistaken for A it would be greatly to their advantage, since they would pass from a population in which the destruction by young birds was 20% to one in which it would now be rather less than 1%. Moreover, as the proportion of B resembling A gradually increased owing to this advantage, the losses suffered by those exhibiting the original B pattern would be relatively heavier and heavier until the form was ultimately eliminated. In other words, it is theoretically conceivable that of two distasteful species with different patterns the rarer could be brought to resemble the more abundant.

We may consider now what would happen in the converse case in which the more numerous species exhibited a variation owing to which it was confused with the rarer. Suppose that of the 100,000 individuals of A 10,000 shewed a variation which led to their being mistaken for B, so that there are 90,000 of the A pattern and 15,000 of the B pattern of which 10,000 belong to species A. A will now lose 1000 out of the 90,000 having the A pattern, and ⅔ × 1000 out of the 10,000 of species A which exhibit the B pattern. The toll of the birds will be $1$&frasl;$90$ of those keeping the original A pattern, and $2$&frasl;$30$ of those of species A which have assumed the B pattern. The mortality among the mimetic members of A is six times as great as among those which retain the type form. It is clear therefore that a variation of A which can be mistaken for B is at a great disadvantage as compared with the type form, and consequently it must be supposed that the Müllerian factor, as the destruction due to experimental tasting by young birds is termed, cannot bring about a resemblance on the part of a more numerous to a less numerous species. Further, as Marshall goes on to shew, there can be no approach of one species to the other when the numbers are approximately equal. A condition essential for the establishing of a mimetic resemblance on Müllerian lines, no less than on Batesian, is that the less numerous species should take on the pattern of the more numerous. Consequently the argument brought forward in the earlier part of this chapter against the establishing of such a likeness by a long series of slight variations is equally valid for Müllerian mimicry.