PAIRING OF INSECTS, 215 



is well exemplified in the moths called vapourers 

 ( Orgtjia antiqiia*' and O. Gonostigma) , the female 

 having only the rudiments of wings, while those of 

 the male are large and ample. This comports with 

 the different habits of the male and the female, the 

 latter remaining (even when furnished with wings) 

 in a great measure stationary, while the former roves 

 restlessly about, ranging through every field, along 

 every lane and hedge, and prying into every corner 

 in search of a mate, whose care it seems to be to 

 conceal herself as scrupulously as possible. In the 

 instance of the orange-tip butterfly mentioned above, 

 while every meadow is swarming with males, we 

 seldom see more than one or two females in a whole 

 season, and those which are observed are seldom on 

 the wing. In some of the smaller ichneumons, 

 among which the same distinction takes place, we 

 may at first sight mistake the female for a large ant 

 with an exserted sting, — a mistake that we have 

 ourselves committed in the case of a male hunting- 

 spider {Salticiis formicarms, IjAtreille)^ which in 

 size, form, and colour, narrowly resembled the wood- 

 ant {Formica rufa) ; and we would certainly have 

 passed it by as such, had we not found it on the 

 rocky shore of the sea near Havre de Grace, and at 

 a distance from any probable haunt of the pismire.! 



But though female insects almost universally con- 

 ceal themselves in the manner we have recorded, 

 the male by his restless and active search is almost 

 certain to discover their retreat. If is highly pro^ 

 bable, as before mentioned, that their discovery is 

 made through the medium of the sense of smelL 

 Be the organ what it may, however, there can be no 

 doubt of the fact that the males of many, if not of 

 all insects, can discover the females at considerable- 



* See figures in Insect Transformation^, p. 'd^. 

 t J. R. 



