ORGANIC RESPONSE 26y 



Aggressive Coloration. While many animals seem 

 to escape detection by making themselves as incon- 

 spicuous as possible, others would appear to court 

 observation. Wasps and bumble bees fly about un- 

 molested, and many brilliantly striped and spotted 

 bugs take no pains to conceal their conspicuous 

 presence. This habit is likely due to the fact 

 that they are not unprotected. The experience of 

 stings in the one case or of a bad taste and odor 

 in the other may make such an impression on an 

 insect-eating animal that similar insects would 

 thereafter be avoided. The bright and conspicuous 

 colors would thus be a sort of advertisement or 

 danger signal. The more conspicuous the color 

 pattern, the less likely would the insect be eaten 

 by mistake and the more valuable its livery. This 

 would of course not help the insect so unfortunate 

 as to be attacked, but the others of his kind would 

 profit by the mistake. The victim, so to speak, 

 would be sacrificed for the sake of educating its 

 enemies to leave its relatives alone. 



Mimicry. The advantage enjoyed by such an 

 advertisement is in some cases shared by other 

 species that have no natural means of defense. 

 Thus many bees and wasps are " imitated " so 

 closely by certain flies as to make it almost impossible 

 to tell one from another when on the wing. The 

 same kind of natural fraud is found among butter- 

 flies. A familiar example of widespread occurrence 

 in America is the mimicry of the Monarch or Milk 



