194 ANIMAL COLORATION. 



any rate not pursued, by birds and other creatures. The 

 late Mr. Belt found that a tame Cebus monkey invariably 

 rejected these insects when they were offered to him; occa- 

 sionally he went so far as to smell them, but they were never 

 tasted. 



On the other hand Mr. Belt also discovered that the 

 Heliconias were hunted by a wasp, and that they exhibited 

 in the presence of their enemy a greater alertness than at 

 anv other times.* 



Fig. 24. it, Liftalis Thcuiioi, var. JLeucoiioi 1 (Fieris). Ij, Ilhonda llcrdiita (the 

 mimicked Heliconius). (After Bates.) 



Although the three naturalists whose observations have just 

 been quoted believed themselves justified in stating that the 

 Heliconida3 were not captured by birds, Fritz Miiller has 

 brought forward evidence which points to the opposite con- 

 clusion. He captured several Heliconidte with pieces torn 



* Wasps appear, according to M. Plateau (Le Naturaliste, xii., p. 

 to be exceedingly stupid and dull of sight. It is possible, therefore, 

 that their attacks upon the butterfly are simply caused by an incapacity 

 for comprehending the significance of its coloration. 



