268 ROMANCE OF THE INSECT WORLD CHAP. 



their nests, so that it is to the interest of the 

 mimickers to be concealed from the mimicked forms 

 themselves. 



Notwithstanding the immense structural difference 

 between the Hemiptera* and Hymenoptera, Mr. Belt 

 describes a Nicaraguan bug which imitates a hornet, 

 and he caught the mimic in his net fully believing it 

 to be the creature feigned. In respect of the dis- 

 similarity of appearance of the orders to which the 

 insects respectively belong, this is one of the most 

 extraordinary instances of mimicry on record (see 

 Fig. 49). 



The order Coleoptera likewise serves as the pattern 

 for many feeble members of other groups. In the 

 Philippine Isles a pretty cricket (Condylodera) is com- 

 pensated for its real inoffensiveness by the acquisition 

 of the appearance of a dreaded active and predaceous 

 tiger-beetle (Tricondyla) ; even the experienced 

 naturalist Mr. Westwood placed it among the tiger- 

 beetles in his cabinet, and it was long before he 

 discovered his mistake. Both insects occur together 

 on trees, but while the mimicked species is plentiful, 

 the mimicker is rare. The association suggests that 

 the disguise not only shields the cricket from enemies 

 who dislike or fear the mimicked forms, but saves it 

 from the attacks of the beetle itself. In the Amazon 

 valley a locust mimics a tiger-beetle, and is found 

 in the same situation. Another most remarkable 

 instance of these resemblances, is that of a grass- 

 hopper in the Philippines which resembles a lady-bird, 

 whose convex shape is totally unlike its own natural 

 dress. The nauseousness of the little beetle renders 



