Danaidae

“ In tropical Asia, and eastward to the Pacific Islands, the Danaidæ take the place of the Heliconidæ 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 Euplæa is the most abundant both in species and individuals, and consists of fine broad-winged butterflies of a glossy or metallic blue-black colour, adorned with pure white, or rich blue, or dusky markings situated round the margins of the wings. ”

“ This is also the case with the magnificent Heliconidae, and most of the Danaidae in the tropics. But in certain other tropical groups, and in some of our English butterflies, as the purple emperor, orange-tip, etc. (Apatura Iris and Anthocharis cardamines) , the sexes differ either greatly or slightly in colour. No language suffices to describe the splendour of the males of some tropical species. Even within the same genus we often find species presenting extraordinary differences between the sexes, whilst others have their sexes closely alike. ”

“ As in America, so in the Old World, species of Danaidæ are the objects which the other families most often imitate. But, besides these, some genera of Morphidæ and one section of the genus Papilio are also less frequently copied. Many species of Papilio mimic other species of these three groups so closely that they are undistinguishable when on the wing; and in every case the pairs which resemble each other inhabit the same locality.
The following list exhibits the most important and best-marked cases of mimicry which occur among the Papilionidæ of the Malayan region and India:—
8. ”

“ This would [p. 192] lead to the destruction of all adverse variations, and thus keep up in continually increasing complexity the outward mimicry which now so amazes us. During the long ages in which this process has been going on, and the Danaidæ have been acquiring those specialities of colour which aid in their preservation, many a Leptalis may have become extinct from not varying sufficiently in the right direction and at the right time to keep up a protective resemblance to its neighbour ”

“ Many have only dusky or purplish bands or spots; others have patches of reddish or yellowish brown—perhaps the commonest colour among butterflies; while a considerable number are tinged or spotted with yellow, also a very common colour, and one especially characteristic of the Pieridæ, the family to which Leptalis belongs. We may therefore reasonably suppose that in the early stages of the development of the Danaidæ, when they first began to acquire those nauseous secretions which are now their protection, their colours were somewhat plain ”

“ Other mimics of Amauris are found among the Papilios and the Nymphaline genus Pseudacraea.
But among all the mimics of Danaines in Africa and elsewhere Papilio dardanus is pre-eminent, and has been described by more than one writer as the most important case of mimicry in existence. Not only does it shew remarkable resemblances to various Danaids, but it presents features of such peculiar interest that it must be considered in more detail. Papilio dardanus in its various sub-races is spread over nearly all the African continent south of the Sahara. ”

“ As in Asia with its Euploeines and Danaines, and in Africa with its Danaines and Acraeines, so in S. America are the fashions set by two dominant groups of models. These are the Heliconinae and the Ithomiinae, both peculiar to this region and both characterised, like the Old-world Danaids, by slow flight and great tenacity of life. Both live on poisonous plants—the Heliconines on Passifloras and the Ithomiines on Solanaceae. In both groups, but more especially in the Ithomiinae, the species are numerous, and the number of individuals in a species often beyond computation. ”

“ A very good example of an Oriental migrant is Danais chrysippus, a magnificent butterfly found in Greece and Southern Italy. In Asia it is known from Syria, Persia, and from the whole of the southern portion of the Continent. The genus Danais (in its wide sense) is a large one, and principally occurs in the warmer regions of Asia. Three species are found in North America and only one in Europe. ”

“ As soon as the gates close on the newly-admitted soul, there is a renewed clamor of voices, while heart-breaking sighs and groans mingle with the curses of those who in their misery dare to defy the gods. And beneath all the awful sounds that greet the listener's ears, there is an undertone of pitiful wailing like the sea's "melancholy, long-withdrawing roar" that seems to come from millions of throats too feeble to utter a loud cry. The deepest sighs proceed from the Danaïdes,—the beautiful daughters of Danaüs, king of Argos,—who must forever strive to fill a bottomless cask with water. ”

“ And when she cried, help met her: for now there came over the rocks a tall and stately man, and looked down wonderingly upon poor Danae tossing about in the chest among the waves.
He wore a rough cloak of frieze, and on his head a broad hat to shade his face; in his hand he carried a trident for spearing fish, and over his shoulder was a casting-net; but Danae could see that he was no common man by his stature, and his walk, and his flowing golden hair and beard; and by the two servants who came behind him, carrying baskets for his fish. ”

“ Of the large group of Ganoids so abundant during all these geological ages but few forms are living to-day. These are the Ceratodus, lung fish of Australia; the Polypterus of the Nile, the Protopterus of Western Africa, the Dogfish and the three Garpike of North America. These few species are but the remnants of a once large and extensive group of fishes.
In the study of fishes we notice that some are highly specialized so far as their structures are concerned; the teeth of some become especially fitted for a peculiar kind of food, and as a result quite unfit for any other kind. ”

“ And there are no fewer than six species of Papilio which resemble these Danaids to the point of being easily mistaken for them, while another rare Papilio effectively copies the iridescence of the blue Euplœæ—a coloration so unusual in the genus that the species has received the name of Papilio paradoxus.
But even in single species of butterflies immune through unpalatability there is usually a great abundance of individuals. Thus Danais chrysippus, which is distributed over the whole of Africa, is a very common butterfly wherever it can live at all ”

“ According to another story, her son Perseus, on his return with the head of Medusa, finding his mother persecuted by Polydectes, turned him into stone, and took Danae back with him to Argos. Latin legend represented her as landing on the coast of Latium and marrying Pilumnus or Picumnus, from whom Turnus, king of the Rutulians, was descended. Danae formed the subject of tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Livius Andronicus and Naevius. She is the personification of the earth suffering from drought, on which the fertilizing rain descends from heaven. ”

“ Danaea. Danaea, represented by about 14 species confined to tropical America, is characterised by simple or simply pinnate leaves with linear segments bearing elongated sori extending from the midrib almost to the margin of the lamina. Each sorus consists of numerous sporangia in two parallel rows united into an oblong mass partially overarched by an indusium (fig. 242, E, i) which grows up from the leaf between the sori. ”

“ Yet we have no reason to believe that, any more than the Fomorians or Firbolgs, the De Danaans ceased to fill their own place in the land. They seem, indeed, to have been preponderant in the north, and in all likelihood they hold their own there even now; for every addition to our knowledge shows us more and more how tenacious is the life of races, how firmly they cling to their earliest dwellings. ”

“ Of the total number of mimicry instances a high proportion is supplied by relatively few groups. In each region several main series of models and mimics run as it were parallel to one another. In Asia, for example, we have the Papilio-Danaine series where the colour-patterns of a series of Danaines, all nearly related, are closely paralleled by those of a section of the genus Papilio, and by those of the Satyrid genus Elymnias. In Africa there is a similar Papilio-Danaine series though of less extent. ”

“ The Dipnoans and Crossopterygians are few. The early Ganoids have given place to more modern types, still in great abundance and variety. This condition continues in the Cretaceous period. Here the rays and modern sharks increase in number, the Ganoids hold their own, and the other groups of soft-rayed fishes, as the smelts, the lantern-fishes, the pikes, the flying-fishes, the berycoids and the mackerels join the group of herring-like forms which represent the modern bony fishes. In the Cretaceous appear the first spiny-rayed fishes, derived probably from herring-like forms. ”

“ In Asia the principal models belong to the Danaines, the Euploeines, and to a group of swallow-tails which from the fact that their larvae feed on the poisonous Aristolochia plant are generally distinguished as the "Poison-eaters," or Pharmacophagus group. Of these the Danaines and Euploeines are closely related and have much in common. They are usually butterflies of medium size, of rather flimsy build and with a somewhat slow and flaunting flight. In spite, however, of their slight build they are toughly made and very tenacious of life. ”

“ The early kings and heroes of the Milesian race are, indeed, often represented as so mightily endowed with supernatural power that it is impossible to draw a clear distinction between them and the People of Dana in this respect. [pg 147] The Danaans are much nobler and more exalted beings, as they figure in the bardic literature, than the fairies into which they ultimately degenerated in the popular imagination; they may be said to hold a position intermediate between these and the Greek deities as portrayed in Homer. ”

“ The danaine butterflies range over all the warmer parts of the world, becoming most numerous in the eastern tropics, where flourish the handsome purple Euploeae whose males often have “brands” on the wings; these insects are conspicuously marked and are believed to be distasteful to birds and lizards. So are the South American Ithomiinae, distinguished from the Danainae by the slender feet of the females; the narrow winged, tawny Acraeinae, with simple anal nervures, thick hairy palps and spiny larvae; and the Heliconiinae whose palps are compressed, scaly at the sides and hairy in front. ”

“ Or compare the female of Elymnias undularis with its model Danaida genutia; there is a general resemblance, but the marking of the Danaida is very roughly imitated in Elymnias.
Another fact that bears out the theory of mimicry is, that even when the resemblance in colour-pattern is very great, the wing-venation, which is so constant, and so important in determining the systematic position of butterflies, is never affected by the variation. The pursuers of the butterfly have no time to trouble about entomological intricacies. ”

“ Of the above, the articles on cephalization as a fundamental principle in the development of the system of animal life have attracted much attention. The evidence from comparative anatomy, paleontology, and embryology alike supports the view that advance in the ontogenetic as well as in the phylogenetic stages is correlated with the unequal growth of the cephalic region as compared with the rest of the body. Dana shows that this principle holds good for all groups of animals. His homologies of the limbs of arthropods and vertebrates, however, do not accord with more modern views. ”

“ All Ganoids possess a separate gill-cover. [2]
The diversity in the development of the Ganoid skeleton is well exemplified by the few representatives of the order in the existing Fish-fauna. Lowest in the scale (in this respect) are those with a persistent notochord, and an autostylic skull, that is, a skull without separate suspensorium—the fishes constituting the sub-order Dipnoi, of which the existing representatives are Lepidosiren, Protopterus, and Ceratodus, and the extinct (as far as demonstrated at present) Dipterus, Chirodus (and Phaneropleuron ?) ”

“ The horrific struggle round Cape Horn, homewards, is the crisis of the Dana history. It is an entry into chaos, a heaven of sleet and black ice-rain, a sea of ice and iron-like water. Man fights the element in all its roused, mystic hostility to conscious life. This fight is the inward crisis and triumph of Dana's soul. He goes through it all consciously, enduring, knowing. It is not a mere overcoming of obstacles. It is a pitting of the deliberate consciousness against all the roused, hostile, anti-life water of the Pole. ”

“ This kind differs much from the sperm, in color and skin, and is said to be fiercer. We was a few sperm whales; but most of the whales that come upon the coast are fin-backs, hump-backs, and right-whales, which are more difficult to take, and are said not to give oil enough to pay for the trouble. For this reason whale-ships do not come upon the coast after them. Our captain, together with Captain Nye of the Loriotte, who had been in a whale-ship, thought of making an attempt upon one of them with two boats’ crews, but as we had only two harpoons and no proper lines, they gave it up. ”

“ Of "The Egyptians," unfortunately, no fragments remain; it doubtless embodied the main incident in the tragic story of the Danaides. It is related in the legend that Danaos was elected king by the Argives, in place of Pelasgos; being unable to cope with Ægyptos and his sons, who still press their suit, he is compelled to yield to their demand, and promises to give his daughters in marriage to their detested suitors. In secret, however, he furnishes each with a dagger, enjoining her, at the same time, to slay her lord during the nuptial night. ”