HOW BUTTERFLIES ARE PROTECTED. 



IN the July number of Birds and 

 All Nature we quoted from 

 an interesting article in the 

 Boston Transcriptsoxno. informa- 

 tion concerninor the commercial 

 aspect of Butterflies. From this study 

 of the remarkable collection of the 

 Denton Brothers of Wellesley, we 

 print another extract, which will 

 indicate to our readers something of 

 what they may expect to see in future 

 numbers of Birds, as it is our purpose 

 to present all of the remarkable 

 specimens of these insects. Some of 

 our subscribers tell us that they would 

 rather have the pictures than the 

 specimens themselves. In an early 

 number we shall present a picture of 

 the wonderful Butterfly Croesus. It is 

 an inhabitant of India, and even there 

 is rarely seen and difficult to secure. 

 It is of deep dead black, with broad 

 splotches on the wings, which areexactly 

 the color of new, untarnished gold, its 

 name being given it for this charac- 

 teristic. But, as the Transcript says, 

 "perhaps the most interesting thing 

 in looking over the Dentons' collection 

 is to have them explain the wonderful 

 ways in which they are protected 

 from their natural enemies, the birds. 

 Perhaps the most remarkable instance 

 of the way in which this is done is 

 the leaf butterfly, a native of India. 

 The upper side of this insect's wings 

 has the characteristically brilliant 

 coloring of its country, but the under 

 side is of a dull brown, the significance 

 of which is not seen until the insect 

 alights and closes its wings. When 

 it is in this position it has exactly the 

 appearance, in shape and color, of a 

 dead leaf, and this is so exact that 

 even the little dark spots caused by 

 decaying fungi on the leaves are 

 reproduced. 



" What is most wonderful of all is 

 that these spots vary, and in different 



specimens have the appearance of 

 different kinds of fungi, the imitation 

 being invariably a perfect one. 



" This characteristic is to be seen in 

 nearly all kinds of butterflies, the 

 under side of the wings of the most 

 brilliantly colored species being of a 

 dull color which does not readily 

 attract attention. Almost the only 

 variation to this is in certain species 

 which ordinarily carry their wings 

 erect, and droop them when they 

 alight. In these the brilliant coloring 

 is on the under side of the wing, and 

 the dull color on the upper side. 

 Perhaps the most remarkable single 

 case known is that of a certain Indian 

 moth, which is a heavy flyer, and 

 found in the woods. When this moth 

 alights, it leaves only the tip of its 

 wings sticking out of the leaves, and 

 this tip, in marking, color, and 

 attitude, has exactly the appearance 

 of the head of a cobra. The same 

 general scheme may be observed in 

 our native moths, and also in most 

 other heavy flyers, in the sharply 

 defined round markings, one on each 

 v/ing. These have the appearance of 

 an eye of some good-sized animal, and 

 keep many birds from making any 

 closer investigation. 



" Another interesting instance of 

 of the self-protecting instinct is found 

 here in the habits of some kinds of 

 our native butterflies. Some of these 

 are naturally protected by having so 

 strong and unpleasant taste that the 

 birds will not eat them. The habits 

 of these kinds are imitated by other 

 kinds that have a strong resemblance 

 to them, but which are not naturally 

 protected, and this is so successfully 

 done that the birds let them alone and 

 prey upon other varieties that have 

 just as strong a resemblance to, but 

 do not imitate the actions of the 

 protected ones." 



62 



