some Best-attitudes of Buttcrfiics. 109 



A female HypolycKiia iJ^^HvpP't'^s, Fab., exhibited a " false 

 head," but was not seen at rest. 



Sept. 15. Victoria Falls. A specimen of Catochrysops 

 mcdalhcma, Bois. ( = asopns, Hopff.), was seen in the Rain 

 Forest settled with its head downwards. 



Sept. 26. East London. Two specimens of Tarucus 

 telicanus, Lang., were seen in the Queen's Park sitting 

 horizontally. They were moving tlieir hind-wing alter- 

 nately ill the plane of the tvings, exactly as I had in the 

 Nilgiris seen a Lampides do,* 



Tilt to one side, or " list." 



This, which I first described as " a sideways attitude," a 

 term not without ambiguity, may be exactly defined as an 

 attitude resulting from a rotation of the insect about its 

 longitudinal axis, as heliotropism results from a rotation 

 about an imaginary vertical axis at right angles to this. 

 Heliotropism corresponds to the movement of a vessel in 

 answer to the helm. Most vessels, independently of wind, 

 waves, or tide, have a tendency to lean somewhat to one 

 side or the other ; this inclination is termed by sailors " a 

 list," and, although I am aware that the analogy is not 

 quite close, since the insect may lean at one moment to 

 one side, at another to the other, I shall for brevity term 

 such an inclined or tilted position a list. 



So far as I know this list was first observed by Col. C. 

 T. Bingham in the case of a Melanitis in 1878, but the 

 observation was not published till long afterwards. The 

 extracts from his diary of that year, brought to light by 

 Prof Poulton, give a most vivid description of some phases 

 of the struggle for existence as it may be seen in a tropical 

 forest. Col. Bingham says : — 



The Melanitis was there among dead leaves, its wings 

 folded and looking, for all the world, a dead dry 

 leaf itself. With regard to Melanitis, I have not 

 seen it recorded anywhere that the species of this 

 genus when disturbed fly a little way, drop suddenly 

 into the undergrowth with closed wings and in- 

 variably lie a little askew and slanting, which still 

 more increases their likeness to a dead leaf casually 

 fallen to the ground, f 



* Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1905, p. 118. 

 t Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond.. 1902, p. 363. 



