Mimicry and Warning Colours in Grasshoppers. 129 



When taken in the hand, it has the habit, 

 common to most grasshoppers, of pouring out an 

 inky fluid from its mouth ; only the discharge is 

 unusually copious in this species. It has another 

 habit in defending itself which is very curious. 

 When captured it instantly curls its body round, as 

 a wasp does to sting. The suddenness of this action 

 has more than once caused me to drop an insect I 

 had taken, actually thinking for the moment that I 

 had taken hold of a wasp. Whether birds would 

 be deceived and made to drop it or not is a ques- 

 tion it would not be easy to settle ; but the instinct 

 certainly looks like one of a series of small adapta- 

 tions, all tending to make the resemblance to a 

 wasp more complete and effective. 



