236 



ROMANCE OF THE INSECT WORLD CHAP. 



same surroundings, half the company were deprived 

 of their bristles, yet the pupae from the normal 

 and from the mutilated insects were identical. Many 

 other experiments in which half of the larvae were 

 precluded from using their eyes, showed conclusively 



that the sensitive organs 

 had some other position in 

 the animal, for the result- 

 ing pupae from both sets 

 of larvae were alike. Mr. 

 Poulton was thus driven 

 to believe that the general 

 surface of the skin of the 

 caterpillar is susceptible 

 to colour. To test this 

 conclusion, he subjected 

 the body of the same 

 larva to two conflicting 

 colours, producing the 

 most opposite effects 

 upon the pupa. A care- 

 ful comparison of all the 

 pupae obtained in these 

 experiments, with pupae 

 obtained from larvae fixed 



FIG. 4 6.-The larva of Peppered Moth to OllC Colour Ollly, showed 

 (Ainphidasis betnlaria) reared amid , . , . , 



green twigs and leaves. that the resulting COlOUl'S 



tended to correspond with 



the surface to which the larger area of skin had been 

 exposed. This occurred whether the head formed 

 part of that area or not, so that the part of the 

 body containing the head is not more sensitive than 



