PROTECTIVE AND AGGRESSIVE MIMICRY 251 



Mimicry of Hymenoptera by Hemiptera 



The flattened bodies of the common plant- bugs 

 (Hemiptera) are peculiarly characteristic, and they are 

 in many ways very unhke other insects. In spite of 

 the immense structural difference which separates 

 them from the Hymenoptera, Mr. Belt describes and 

 figures a Nicaraguan bug which mimics a hornet so 

 closely that he caught it in his net, fully believing 

 that it was a hornet. 



So common are mimetic resemblances in tropical 

 countries, although, doubtless, unobserved by any 

 except the keenest naturalists, that Mr. Belt writes : 

 * Whenever I found any insect provided with special 

 means of defence I looked for imitative forms, and 

 was never disappointed in finding them.' Many ex- 

 amples will be found in his most interesting book, 

 from which I have already often quoted. 



Mimicry of Coleoptera by Orthoptera 



Many examples are also given by Wallace ^ and 

 Semper.2 One of the most remarkable is a grass- 

 hopper (Orthoptera) from the Philippine Islands, 

 which mimics a ladybird,^ and has acquired the 

 rounded convex shape which is characteristic of these 



' Darwinism, pp. 257-61. 



'^ Aninial Life, International Scientific Series, pp. 389-91. 



• Semper, loc. cit. p. 390. 



