234 
DARWINISM 
CHAP. 
black Telephoridge, commonly called “soldiers and sailors,” 
were found, by Mr. Jenner Weir, to be refused by small 
birds. These and the allied Lampyridse (the fire-Hies and 
glow-worms) in Nicaragua, were rejected by Mr. Belt’s tame 
monkey and by his fowls, though most other insects were 
greedily eaten by them. The Coccinellidse or lady-birds are 
another uneatable group, and their conspicuous and singularly 
spotted bodies serve to distinguish them at a glance from all 
other beetles. 
These uneatable insects are probably more numerous than 
is supposed, although we already know immense numbers 
that are so protected. The most remarkable are the three 
families of butterflies—Heli conidge, Danaidge, and Acrgeidge— 
comprising more than a thousand species, and characteristic re¬ 
spectively of the three great tropical regions—South America, 
Southern Asia, and Africa. All these butterflies have 
peculiarities which serve to distinguish them from every 
other group in their respective regions. They all have ample 
but rather weak wings, and fly slowly ; they are always very 
abundant; and they all have conspicuous colours or markings, 
so distinct from those of other families that, in conjunction 
with their peculiar outline and mode of flight, they can 
usually be recognised at a glance. Other distinctive features 
are, that their colours are always nearly the same on the 
under surface of their wings as on the upper; they never try 
to conceal themselves, but rest on the upper surfaces of 
leaves or flowers; and, lastly, they all have juices which 
exhale a powerful scent, so that when one kills them by 
pinching the body, the liquid that exudes stains the fingers 
yellow, and leaves an odour that can only be removed by 
repeated washings. 
Now, there is much direct evidence to show that this 
odour, though not very offensive to us, is so to most insect- 
eating creatures. Mr. Bates observed that, when set out to 
dry, specimens of Heliconidge were less subject to the attacks 
of vermin ; while both he and I noticed that they were not 
attacked by insect-eating birds or dragonflies, and that their 
wings were not found in the forest paths among the numerous 
wings of other butterflies whose bodies had been devoured. 
Mr. Belt once observed a pair of birds capturing insects for 
