206 A NATURALIST IN HIMALAYA 



scarcely have thought so. Harmony must be its main 

 protection, but I was interested to observe that one 

 which I took in a net remained perfectly motionless 

 and shammed death. It has thus recourse to another 

 method of eluding its enemies, and this is the only 

 instance, with the exception of that widespread moth 

 Deiopia pulchella, that has come to my notice of the 

 strange practice of shamming death amongst this large 

 division of the Lepidoptera. 



I have mentioned fourteen species of the butterflies 

 and moths which frequent this valley, all of which 

 would seem to be preserved because they resemble 

 those structures on which they are accustomed to 

 alight. Some seek protection amongst the leaves, 

 others on the shales, others on the limestones, still 

 others on the trunks of the forest trees, and the colour 

 of each is beautifully adapted to the nature of its 

 resort. I have been asked if these moths deliberately 

 select the objects on which they alight with the 

 conscious intention of seeking concealment. But this 

 cannot be for a moment admitted. The moths have 

 through generations gradually adapted themselves to 

 those habitats where they would naturally find the 

 greatest security. Those which tended to roam into 

 other areas would soon be destroyed, and only the 

 individuals which kept to those places that they 

 resembled would ultimately survive. The Gnophus 

 alights on the limestone, but it knows not why. On 

 most occasions it closely resembles the rock on which 

 it rests, but the moth does not understand this ; indeed 

 I have watched it settle on a patch of dark shale and 

 on an iron-stained slab of limestone where it was really 

 conspicuous, but at the same time perfectly content. 



