PROTECTIVE COLORATION. 195 



more protective. Among the larvae of some Lepidoptera this 

 rule holds good in an increased degree. I will take as examples 

 the two common bush-moths, Boarmia dejectaria and B. pana- 

 grata, both of which I have frequently reared. 



The former {B. dejectaria), when feeding on the malvae 

 {Melicytus ramiflorus) , is light pea-green, exactly resembling the 

 twigs of the plant. When feeding on the white rata {Metro- 

 sideros scandens) it is dark brown, thus harmonising equally 

 well with the almost black branches of that plant ; while those 

 individuals which feed on fuchsia are bright green with reddish 

 markings, thus imitating its young leaf-bearing shoots. Finally, 

 bluish grey larvae of B. dejectaria may be occasionally beaten 

 from the New Zealand nightshade {Solanum aviculare), a plant 

 whose branches are of that hue. 



In the case of B. panagrata we have, firstly, a dull olive-green 

 caterpillar feeding on the kawakawa (Piper excelsum). Its colour 

 is perfectly protective, the larva increasing the deception by 

 coiling itself into a semicircle and sitting on the twig, thus 

 appearing exactly like the numerous joints which occur at 

 intervals up the stems of this plant. Secondly, a brownish larva 

 feeding on the "currant" [A. racemosa), which adheres closely to 

 the twigs, and during cold days seeks shelter in the burrows of 

 Charagia virescens, where large numbers may often be discovered 

 while cutting out the pupae of that insect. Thirdly, we find a 

 totally different-looking caterpillar feeding on Myrtus hullata, 

 which is again the larva of Boarmia panagrata, imitating the 

 colour of its food-plant. 



It is needless to say that when I first found these larvae I was 

 confident they belonged to six or eight different insects, and was 

 much astonished to find them result in the two common species 

 above referred to. I must also mention that the perfect insects 

 (Boarmia dejectaria and B. panagrata) are extremely variable, 

 and I have noticed that the dark varieties of the larva give rise 

 to the dark varieties in the perfect insect, and vice versa ; but as 

 I have not reared a very large number of these insects, this result 

 may be due to one of those coincidences which so frequently 

 deceive us in these matters, 



I think I have now said enough to show that protective 

 colouring is very prevalent among New Zealand species ; but I 

 must also add that the insects themselves are all extremely 



