I'ACKAitD.] INSECTS AS MIMICS. 261 



the smaller, lighter species frequent the sandy light paths 

 about our dwellings. Within doors the Reduvius (Figs. 56, 

 57) covers itself with dust, a good disguise in approaching 

 its prey and escaping its enemies. Ground spiders by their 

 hues simulate the inequalities of the dark soil over which 

 they run. The trap door spiders (Mygale, Fig. 62) are col- 

 oi'ed like the soil in which they excavate their nests. The 

 desert Mantis (Erernophila) is of a sandy hue, and is easily 

 confounded with the sands of the Sahara. An example of 

 protective coloration is probably afforded by a moth of the 

 silk worm family {Eideucophceus tricolor, Fig. 197), Avhich 

 inhabits New Mexico. Instead of the dark brown hues of 

 its allies, it has a faded appearance, adapting it for conceal- 



FlG. 197. 



Eulcucoplitcus. 



ment while resting on the dry parched ground. It will be 

 interesting to learn whether its exceptional style of color- 

 ation adapts it for a life in the deserts of New Mexico. 

 Here the change is evidently induced by the dry climate. 



The grasshoppers nearly always harmonize in color with 

 the general hue of the fields in which they abound. They 

 are most abundant towards the last of summer, when the 

 fields have lost their freshness and the grass has turned 

 brown ; at this time the russet garb of the Carolinian locust, 

 and the red-legged grasshopper admirably conceal them 

 when at rest. I have noticed the sulphur-winged grasslK)[)- 

 per (Arpliid sulphurea) flying about dry hillsides, and in 

 northern IVIaine, the crackling grasshopper {Trimerotropis 



5 



