18 
creeps. If one of these caterpillars is kept in confinement, without. 
access to any kind of bark, it will make its cocoon out of all sorts 
of miscellaneous objects, even making it out of pieces of highly 
coloured ribbon. 
We must now turn to the last stage of the butterfly or moth’s. 
life—that of the perfect insect. Here we have again protective 
resemblance, warning colours, and mimicry. As a familiar 
instance of protective reserablance, I would mention that of Thecla 
rubi (the Green Hairstreak). This pretty little insect is fairly 
common in the Warren. The upper sides of the wings are of a 
very dark brown, but the under sides are of a bright green. When 
seen on the wing it is easy to distinguish, but directly it alights on 
a hawthorn bush or on the guelder rose it is lost to sight. This. 
apparent disappearance is brought about by the butterfly closing 
its wings over its back, so that the undersides harmonize exactly 
with the leaves on which it is sitting. Among our British moths 
the Buff tip (Phalera bucephala) is a very interesting example of 
protective resemblance. When found at rest, sitting with its wings 
folded closely round its body, and its antenne tucked under its 
wings, it looks just like a piece of stick, or a projection of the bark 
on which it sits. Many butterflies resemble dead leaves on their 
under side; but this form of protection attains its greatest perfec- 
tion in the tropics. In the Malay islands there are some large and 
showy butterflies, orange and bluish on the upper side, frequenting 
dry forests. They always settle on dry foliage, and in that position 
exactly resemble a dead leaf. This is effected by the butterfly 
settling on a twig, with the short tail of the hind wings just touch- 
ing it and forming the leaf stalk. ‘To still further complete the 
resemblance, the wings are covered with small black dots, so exactly 
resembling the minute fungi on dead leaves that it is difficult to 
believe that the insects themselves are not attacked by some such 
parasite. Another has its wings so formed that it has the appear- 
ance of haying had a portion of them eaten away by some larvee or 
other insect. 
Other forms of protection are those afforded by mimicing wasps 
and bees, and unpalatable species of their own order. As an 
example of the first kind, I may mention some of the hawk moths,. 
and the clearwings (specimens of which can be seen on the platform 
after the lecture.) This is especially the case of Specia apiformis 
(sometimes called the Hornet moth.) As it sits sunning itself on 
the brink of poplar trees, it looks extremely like a hornet or large 
wasp, which is rendered more unpleasantly lifelike by the habit of 
moving its abdomen as if in the act of stinging. The whole family 
of the Ceside (or clearwings) bear striking resemblances to different. 
kinds of flies. As I was hunting for one of the species last 
