210 



ANIMAL LIFE 



ous larvaB, which would tend to destroy the illusion so 

 successfully carried out by them. The common walking- 

 stick (Diapheromera) (Fig. 131), with its wingless, greatly 

 elongate, dull-colored body, is an excellent example of spe- 

 cial protective resemblance. It is quite indistinguishable, 

 when at rest, from the twigs to which it is clinging. An- 

 other member of the family of insects to which the walk- 

 ing-stick belongs is the famous green-leaf insect (Phyllium) 



(Fig. 132). It is found in 

 South America and is of a 

 bright green color, with broad 

 leaf -like wings and body, with 

 markings which imitate the 

 leaf veins, and small irregu- 

 lar yellowish spots which 

 mimic decaying or stained 

 or fungus-covered spots in 

 the leaf. 



There are many butter- 

 flies that resemble dead 

 leaves. All our common 

 meadow browns ( Grapta), 

 brown and reddish butter- 

 flies with ragged-edged wings, 

 that appear in the autumn 

 and flutter aimlessly about ex- 

 actly like the falling leaves, 

 show this resemblance. But 

 most remarkable of all is a 



large butterfly (Kallima) (Fig. 133) of the East Indian 

 region. The upper sides of the wings are dark, with 

 purplish and orange markings, not at all resembling a 

 dead leaf. But the butterflies when at rest hold their 

 wings together over the back, so that only the under sides 

 of the wings are exposed. The under sides of Kallima's 

 wings are exactly the color of a dead and dried leaf, and 



FIG. 132. The green-leaf insect 

 (Phyllium). 



