HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



251 



defensive power, yet, being a method to which 

 many insects owe their immunity from destruction, 

 we mention it. The zigzag flight of the butterflies 

 and moths, and the hopping powers of the flea, are 

 good examples of quick and eccentric motion. The 

 Ghost Moth {Hepialus humuli) is gifted with an 

 almost magical flight. This moth may be seen in 

 summer evenings flying a short distance above the 

 tall herbage in meadows and fields. Suddenly, when 

 watching its white flutter, it vanishes as totally and 

 with as much celerity as its namesake is popularly 

 supposed to do. The real explanation of this 

 curious proceeding is that the insect has suddenly 

 settled on a stalk, and has hid from view its white 

 upper wings, turning to the spectator the dark 

 hinder ones only. The little gilded hopping beetles, 

 &c, on willow, hazel, and elm leaves, are other good 

 examples of quick motion ; to which we may also add 

 the leaping powers of the various grasshoppers, and 

 the air-jumps of the Skipjack^Beetles and the Scar- 

 let and other Hoppers. 



Let us now run over a few of the passive defen- 

 sive resources of insects. One of the most interest- 

 ing modes of passive defence in insects is the 

 resemblance many of them bear to other carefully 

 avoided insects, or to inanimate objects. Several 

 of the clearwing moths (Sesidce) are remarkable as 

 examples of the first-named peculiarity. One of 

 these, the Hornet lslot\i(Sesla apiformis), is so simi- 

 lar to its namesake, the ferocious crabro, that it is 

 continually liable to be mistaken for such by those not 

 conversant with the lepidoptera. The Currant Clear- 

 wing (Sesia tlpuliformls) is quite as likely to be mis- 

 taken for a gnat or a fly. There are other species re- 

 sembling ants (winged) and bees. The great Saw-flly 

 (Sirexgigas), despite its hornet- like appearance and 

 the formidable ovipositor at the end of the body, is 

 yet a very harmless insect, and the Humble Bee ' 

 Ely {Bombyllus meclius) does not carry out its re- 

 semblance to that insect so far as to possess a sting ; 

 neither are the Bee Hawk-moths (Macroglossa bom- 

 byllformls an&fuciformis) so bee-like as they appear. 

 None but the initiated would take the Humming- 

 bird Hawk-moth (Macroglossa stellatarum) to be a 

 moth at all. The Rev. J. G. Wood, in his " Com- 

 mon Moths of England," says (when noting the 

 resemblance of this moth to the humming-bird) " that 

 persons who have resided in the West Indies, and 

 afterwards come to live in England, have been 

 deluded into the idea that they have seen genuine 

 humming-birds flying about." Indeed the mode of 

 flight, manner of feeding, and general appearance 

 of this insect is very similar to that of the hum- 

 ming-bird. The bird, like the moth, hovers over the 

 flower, and with its slender bill, similar to the hans- 

 telktm or sucker of the moth, extracts its food. The 

 the tail of the bird is well represented in the moth 

 by a feathery process at the end of the body, and the 

 wings hum and vibrate like those of the tiny bird. 



The Stone Plume (Pterophorus llthodactylns) is 

 about as much unlike a moth as the clearwings are, 

 and is no doubt frequently mistaken for a small 

 edition of a " daddy long-legs," or crane-fly. 



Better even than the resemblance to other insects 

 is the power many species passively possess of 

 counterfeiting inanimate objects. The best ex- 

 amples we can find of insects displaying this power 

 are the Looper caterpillar, many of which have the 

 art of stretching out and stiffening their bodies 

 into the form of shoots and twigs, and as their 

 colours generally harmonize with the leaves and 

 branches, the deception is often so complete that 

 persons have unwittingly gathered caterpillars 

 instead of twigs from sheer inability to distinguish 

 one from the other. In some cases, to still further 

 keep up the resemblance, the caterpillars bear on 

 their bodies crooks, humps, and even thorns. 

 Several of the moths, when " at rest," much 

 resemble surrounding objects. Thus, the Lappet 

 Moth (Bombyx qiiercifolia), when settled on the 

 branch or trunk of a tree, looks like several small 

 leaves collected in a bunch which had fallen there 

 by chance. Again, the Lime Hawk-moth (Sme- 

 rlnthus tlUce), in its peculiar hanging position and 

 general shape, bears no distant resemblance to some 

 prematurely faded leaf ; while the Sycamore Moth 

 (Acronycla acerls) is quite as likely to be passed by 

 as merely a bunch of grey lichens. 



The safety of most caterpillars lies in their colour 

 closely harmonizing with those of the trees and 

 plants on which they feed. It is very interesting to 

 notice the extra care taken by nature to provide for 

 the safety of the insect in its larval state — indeed, 

 more ways of defence are vouchsafed to the cater- 

 pillar than to the perfect insect. The leaf-roller 

 lies snug in its leafy tube, and if that is assailed, 

 often escapes through its adroitness as a rope- 

 spinner; the Caddis-worm dons its coat of mail 

 and defies the attacks of aquatic foes ; the Ant- 

 lion larva conceals itself at the bottom of its 

 burrow ; the Gall-fly larva feeds away its grubhood 

 in the snug oak-apple ; the Cuckoo-spit larva wal- 

 lows in froth ; while many caterpillars of the moths 

 spin silken webs of considerable thickness, through 

 which even the birds can scarcely make an entrance, 

 and by the time the walls are carried the inmates 

 have all filed out through convenient apertures, 

 and have sought the thickest part of the bush. 

 The fragile-looking Lacewing flies place their eggs 

 at the ends of slender tubes or stalks, which 

 effectually preserves them from being devoured by 

 predaceous insects. To return. Many of the 

 insects which live in sand and earth have exactly 

 the same tints as their surroundings. The pre- 

 vailing colour in caterpillars is green, and as the 

 greater number of them feed on the leaves of trees 

 and plants, this similarity in colour is of essential 

 service in concealing them from their enemies. 



