THE MOSAIC OF COLOURS 



they seem to be unfolded. The beetle constantly raises and jerks 

 these wings, so that it catches the eye at a distance. We have already 

 seen that protected animals derive an advantage from drawing 

 attention to themselves. 



The Wolf-beetles are imitated by beetles of quite different 

 families (Plate 29, I, 13-15). These are beetles with the same black 

 and yellow markings, and the same habit of lifting and depressing 

 the wing-covers. Even a Capricorn beetle has adopted this disguise. 

 Its long antennae might betray it, so it turns them back. And there 

 is even an insect of quite another race, a Burnet-moth, which 

 disguises itself as a Wolf-beetle. This belongs to the family of the 

 moths, so common in Europe, that flutter across our meadows, their 

 antennae curled like a ram's horns, their narrow wings a purplish 

 black, and spotted with red. In Brazil the family is peculiarly rich 

 in species, and resplendent with lustrous golden hues. 



Another beetle is actually known as the Mummer, because its 

 hump-backed figure reminds one of a Leaf-bug, and like the latter 

 it excretes a stinking fluid. This beetle too adopts the warning 

 black and yellow stripes of the whole group. But the Mummer is 

 imitated by a second insect, a harmless Capricorn, which has 

 carried the imitation so far that even the two red specks on the 

 roots of the wings are not lacking. We shall find that black and 

 yellow, often with the addition of red, are everywhere employed 

 as signals of warning, or for purposes of intimidation. Even in 

 Europe the Salamander is black and yellow, and the Speckled Toad 

 has the same spotted belly, which it displays, throwing itself on its 

 back, when in danger of capture. Both animals excrete an acrid fluid. 



The venomous Coral Snake of Brazil likewise shows resplendent 

 cross-bands of black, red and yellow. And two species of harmless 

 adders, which like the Coral Snake live in the ground, have precisely 

 the same colouring. I kept one of these adders in my room, always 

 delighting in its gleaming colours, with their fine steely radiance; 

 they seemed absolutely to shine when the snake had shed its skin. 

 One night I heard something thump on the floor, but I went to 

 sleep again, and when I got up in the morning I realized with 

 regret that my Coral Adder had regained its freedom. 



Insects provided with a sting, and therefore dreaded by many 

 creatures, have a number of imitators. The Wasps have the warning 

 cross-bands of black and yellow on their abdomens, and are members 

 of the "assurance society" of protected creatures, as Weismann 

 has aptly called the insects which, in the common interest, wear a 



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