Ve 
Notes on Warning and Protective Colour in 
Lepidopterous Larve. 
N the April number of Narurat Science, Mr. George Carpenter 
deals with the vexed question of ‘Colour in Insects.” The 
whole subject of animal colouration has been much debated, and as it 
is only by means of a long series of careful experiments and close 
observation that we can hope to arrive at any clear understanding of 
it, every particle of evidence, however small, may have some value. 
From this point of view the following notes may not be without 
interest. 
The experiments made by me as to palatability and colour- 
relation in lepidopterous larve were, as Mr. Carpenter correctly 
states, entirely confirmatory of those previously conducted by Mr. 
Poulton and others. They have been recorded in detail elsewher 
(Tvans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1892, pt. ili.), and I therefore give only a 
brief sketch of them here, together with a few additional facts which 
have come under my notice since writing the above-mentioned paper. 
Experiments as to the palatability of conspicuous larve were made 
with four species, viz., with larve of Diloba caeruleocephala, Cucullia 
verbasct, Acronycta pst, and Bombyx rubi. Larve of the two first-named 
species were given to a tame jackdaw, which had been taken un- 
fledged the previous year, and could never have seen any larve 
except those I gave him, unless some had dropped occasionally from 
a beech tree which overhung his cage. The larve of D. caeruleocephala 
were taken feeding freely exposed on pear trees; they were blue, 
yellow, and black, very conspicuous, and not hairy. 
The bird was accustomed to take anything from my hand, and 
would always seize and attempt to pull to pieces any object presented 
to him, whether he was hungry or not; he was, therefore, a good 
subject for experiment, 
On offering him a larva he appeared very suspicious, and for a 
long time would not take it. Then he tasted it, but dropped it 
at once, shaking his head violently, and evidently disliking it. It 
was tasted once more, and then left uneaten. The next day he was 
offered a common smooth green larva (species unknown) and ate it 
without hesitation. He was not very hungry on either occasion. 
