THE COLOURS OF INSECTS. 19.I 



II. TJie Colours of Insects. 



The most striking feature of the Insecta is the extreme 

 brightness and diversity of colour which they display, in all 

 the orders into which they are divided. In no other class 

 in the animal kingdom are such remarkable brilliancy and 

 variety to be found. Even the birds, the most beautiful 

 and charming of the vertebrates, cannot rival them in this 

 respect. 



All the orders of insects share in this pre-eminence of 

 beauty, but it is the Lepidopto a, the great order which 

 includes the butterflies and moths, that can claim to be 

 the most wondrous animals in the world for brilliance of 

 colouring and diversity of marking, and that far outshine 

 all the other animals in their display of elegant adornment. 

 No colour or pattern seems to be impossible, no contrast 

 of hue unsuitable or discrepant, and no harmonious or 

 fantastic marking unattainable, amongst these frail and 

 delicate creatures. Brilliant metallic blues and greens, 

 luminous crimson and gaudy red, bright orange and yellow 

 and lustrous shining white or deep black, resplendent 

 silver and refulgent copper, all possible combinations of 

 colour, gay and luxurious, of every hue and tint and shade 

 are found in a thousand combinations in the butterflies 

 and moths. 



Not in colour only are these insects remarkable ; their 

 patterns and figures are as varied and beautiful as the 

 colours which they exhibit. Perfect symmetry is almost 

 universal amongst them, although the markings may be very 

 elaborate ; the finest lines and curves and tracery of 

 ornament being displayed with almost geometrical accuracy 

 and the more minutely the details are examined the more 

 perfect they appear to be. 



In many cases, as in the Heliconincs, the bright colours 



