146 A BOOK OF INSECTS 



Alternate rings of blaek and red or yellow are the common 

 liveries of stinging insects in all parts of the world — 

 witness the wasps, hornets, and humble-bees. Certain 

 caterpillars, such as those of the cinnabar and buff- tip 

 moths, are similarly coloured ; while others display showy 

 stripes or spots. Many of these conspicuous caterpillars 

 have been proved experimentally to be objectionable to 

 most insectivorous creatures, either on account of their 

 unpleasant taste, or because they are covered with irritat- 

 ing hairs or spines. Thus, the caterpillar of the buff-tip 

 moth (P/iakra bucepha/a), being tough and unpalatable, 

 is much disliked by birds. That of the well-known 

 vapourer moth (Orgyia antiqua) was offered by Dr. F. E. 

 Beddard to a green lizard, " which seized it, and seemed 

 at the same time both anxious and unwilling to eat it. 

 The lizard appeared to intimate that it would eat the 

 caterpillar if it were not for its hairy covering." Vapourer 

 moth caterpillars feed upon a large variety of plants and 

 trees, and several years ago they became a perfect plague 

 in London parks and gardens, notwithstanding the ubi- 

 quity of the London sparrow, which feeds freely upon 

 smooth green and brown caterpillars. 



Warning coloration has probably reached its zenith 

 among four great sub-families of tropical butterflies — the 

 Danaince, the Acrceince, the Heliconiince, and the Ithom- 

 iince. These butterflies, of which many hundreds of species 

 are known, are without exception strikingly coloured, and 

 are rendered unattractive as food by the evil-smelling 

 juices of their bodies. Moreover, it is noteworthy that 

 they usually display the same colours on both the upper 

 and under surface of their wings ; whereas those kinds 

 that are not protected by distasteful qualities generally 

 have the under surface of the wings coloured to harmonise 

 with leaves, bark, or the surface of the soil — even though 



