vni] CRAB-SPIDERS. MIMICRY 55 



to choose lichen as a hunting ground there would be 

 little chance of concealment, but it does nothing 

 so foolish : it hides among the petals of flowers, 

 generally, but not always, among flowers more or less 

 of its own colour. 



Now this phenomenon of resemblance is sometimes 

 carried very much farther than a tolerable corre- 

 spondence between the colour of an animal and its 

 surroundings ; it occasionally amounts to an apparent 

 imitation, in form and in behaviour as well as in 

 colour, of some other object, either animal or vegetable 

 and in such cases we have examples of what is known 

 as Mimicry. Most people have seen remarkable 

 instances of this phenomenon in the "stick" and "leaf" 

 insects of entomological collections. There are 

 several different ways in which such a resemblance 

 may be profitable to the imitator. Clearly it may be 

 advantageous for a weak animal to be mistaken for 

 one much more formidable and less likely to be 

 attacked, or for an insect which is really extremely 

 good eating to resemble closely one which birds well 

 know to be unpalatable. Or again, if your line is to 

 lie perdu and wait for some unwary insect to come 

 within reach, it must be a distinct asset to be indis- 

 tinguishable from such an innocent object as a twig or 

 a leaf; and the same disguise may serve you if you 

 are the possible victim and you can make the would- 

 be devourer believe that you are a mere vegetable. 



