AXIJfAL SELF-DEFEXSE. 



5c i 



however, from the analosrv of manv other eases, that the habits of the 

 insect are such as still further to aid its deceptive garb : but we are 

 Dot obliged to make any such supposition, since I myself had the 

 good fortune to observe scores of Ko.llirn.o. paralefaa, in Sumatra, and 

 to capture many of them, and can vouch for the accuracy of the 

 following details : These butterflies frequent dry forests and fly very 

 swiftly. They were never seen to settle on a flower or a green leaf, 

 but were many times lost sight of in a bush or tree of dead leaves. 

 On such occasions thev were g;enerallv searched for in vain, for, while 

 gazing intently at the very spot where one had di- i ~. it would 



suddenly dart out, and again vanish twenty or fifty yards farther on ; 

 on one or two occasions the insect was detected reposing, and it could 

 then be seen how completely it assimilates itself to the surrounding 

 leaves. It sits on a nearly upright twig, the wings fitting closely back 

 to back, concealing the antennae and head, which are drawn up between 

 their bae The little tails of the hind wing touch the branch, and 



form a perfect stalk to the leaf, which is supported in its place by the 

 claws of the middle pair of feet, which are slender and inconspicuous. 

 The irregular outline of the wings gives exactly the perspective effect 

 of a shriveled leaf. We have thus size, color, form, markings, and 

 habits, all combining together to produce a disguise which may be 

 said to be absolutely perfect : and the protection which it affords 

 sufficiently indicated by the abundance of the individuals which p a 

 sess it." 



Of the walkinsr-stick in Wallace savs : " Some of these are a 



foot long and as thick as one's finger, 

 and their whole coloring:, form, r;_ - 

 itv, and the arrangement of the head. 

 lees, and antenna?, are such as to render 

 them absolutely identical in appearance 

 with drv sticks. Thev hang; loosely 

 about shrubs in the forest, and have 

 the extraordinarv habit of stret chins: 

 out their lesrs un symmetrically. s 

 to render the deception more com- 

 plete." The counterfeiting is carried 

 even to the imperfections and injnr: - 

 of the objects copied. Still speaking 

 of the walking-stick insects, TTailace 

 says : H One of these creatures, obtaine 1 

 bv mvself in Borneo, was covered over 

 with foliaceens excrescences of a clear 

 olive-green color, so as exactly to re- FlG - * ** ?p- wmgfcaB 



serous insect. 

 semble a stick grown over by a creep- 

 ing moss or jungermannia. The Dyak who brought it assured me it 

 was grown over with moss, althougrh alive : and it was only after a 



