New Forest. This great abundance of the caterpillar he regarded as a 

 natural experiment on a large scale illustrating the truth of the doctrine 

 advocated. 



Mr. J. W. Douglas asked whether the bright colours of the caterpillars 

 actually frightened away birds. He remarked that it was well known that 

 the Shrikes impaled brightly-coloured and hairy insects, such as bees. 



Sir John Lubbock stated that the bright coloration or hairy covering of a 

 caterpillar acted simply as a warning that the species was inedible. It was 

 clearly an advantage to a distasteful species to be recognized as such before 

 being pecked at by a bird, and not after being seized, in which case the 

 larva, although perhaps not killed at the time, would in all probability 

 ultimately die of the wounds inflicted. Thus by the action of Natural 

 Selection had bright colours and hairs become associated with distasteful 

 qualities. 



Mr. M'Lachlan stated that in 1865 (Trans. Ent. Soc, ser. 3, vol. ii.) he 

 had called attention to the fact that some flower-frequenting caterpillars 

 were of the same colours as the flowers on which they fed. He remarked 

 that this was especially the case with the genus Eupithecia. Mr. M'Lachlan 

 also called attention to the fact that the larvae of many Sphingida, such as 

 Acherontia Atropos were known to present two distinct forms or coloured 

 varieties. 



Mr. Butler remarked that he could fully endorse Sir John Lubbock's 

 view of the function of the oblique stripes on the sides of Sphinx larvse — 

 that these markings were intended to represent the shadow-lines cast by 

 leaves. He mentioned that he had recently had an opportunity of ob- 

 serving Sjjhinx lignstri under conditions most favourable to this deception. 

 Mr. Butler further remarked that many of the exotic larvse belonging to the 

 genera Sphinx and Smerinthus were dimorphic. With reference to colour 

 being influenced by food-plant, he stated that he had observed this fact in 

 connection with species of Mamestra. 



Sir John Lubbock stated, with regard to dimorphic larvae, that Weismann 

 had shown that in such cases one form generally retained the characters of 

 the young larva, while the other form diverged from it at a certain stage 

 of growth. The dark-coloured varieties generally existed in those species 

 which fed on low-growing plants, under which conditions the dark colour 

 served as a protection to the caterpillar when liiding by day. 



Mr. H. Goss said that he had long been familiar with two forms of the 

 larva of Chcerocampa elpenor, and that the green and brown varieties were 

 about equally common, the former colour not being in any way confined to 

 young larvse. 



Mr. J. P. Mansel Weale remarked that in South Africa the ordinary 

 form of larva of Acherontia Atropos feeds generally upon SolanacecE, while 

 the dark form, which is rarer, he had found only on species of Lantana. 



