1893. NOTES ON LEPIDOPTEROUS LARV4. 441 
eating this larva with impunity developed by the action of Natural 
Selection, after necessity had first driven its ancestors to the attempt. 
My experiments were made on a less extensive scale than those 
described by Mr. Beddard as undertaken by Mr. Finn and himself, 
and are, therefore, perhaps, of less value; but as far as my experience 
went I was not at all able to confirm Mr. Beddard’s statements as to the 
“‘ behaviour of animals when offered inconspicuously-coloured ” prey, 
resembling that with which they approached conspicuous forms. I 
repeatedly gave common green smooth larve and other species with 
protective colouration both to the bird and lizards, and invariably found 
them accepted and eaten without the slightest hesitation, except just 
after distasteful food. I scarcely think the garden slug, which Mr. 
Beddard saw refused by several birds, is a fair example of a pro- 
tectively-coloured animal treated as if it were inedible. The slime 
of the slug would be disliked by many animals, and there is evidence 
from many of the experiments that it was so disliked, since it was 
only swallowed “‘after much rubbing on the ground.” ‘The slime 
would seem to be as effectual a protection, apart from all 
question of colour, against some pursuers as the hairs of the 
larva of Bombyx vubi ; the latter cannot be said to be conspicuously- 
coloured, and yet was refused by all the animals with which 
I experimented. I did not find a single case of a larva which 
was both protectively-coloured and smooth being refused by animals; 
such larvae were always eatem with avidity. It will, however, be 
interesting to extend these experiments and note the results carefully, 
and it is one of the great merits of Mr. Beddard’s book that he 
therein points out so many lines for investigation, and calls attention 
to many details which are worthy of further consideration. 
With regard to experiments on the colour-relation between 
certain lepidopterous larve and their surroundings, the results ob- 
tained by me were the same as those obtained by Mr. Poulton 
previously with the same species, except that in one case my results 
were, perhaps, slightly more definite. 
I reared in different surroundings 19 larvee of Amma cratoegata, 
42 larvee of Catocala nupta, 10 larve of Catocala fraxint, and 29 ot 
Mamestra brassice. Dark surroundings produced in R. cratoegata very 
dark brown or nearly black larve, while in green surroundings 
larve from the same parent became of varying shades of green or 
greenish-brown, with touches of crimson exactly corresponding to 
the red of the thorns and one side of the young shoots of the food- 
plant. The resemblance to twigs of hawthorn was very perfect, 
and was heightened by the angular attitude adopted by the larve 
at rest. 
For Catocala nupta, dark, green, and white surroundings were 
used, and the dark surroundings produced darker brown larve than 
the green surroundings, while no difference im shade was perceptible 
between those in green and those in white surroundings. Mr. Poulton 
