INSECT ACTORS 105 



European Swallow-tails) is another strikingly 

 marked caterpillar that is perfectly protected 

 when on its food plant; it will be found on 

 various umbelliferous plants in the fen districts. 

 In colour it is a bright green, with black stripes 

 spotted with yellow, a very conspicuous object 

 when seen in a collector's cabinet, and yet in its 

 natural habitat it is exceedingly difficult to find 

 this caterpillar, so wonderfully does its vivid 

 colouring blend with its surroundings. 



So far we have considered some of the 

 simplest forms of protective resemblance, in 

 which the insect harmonizes so perfectly with 

 the general colouring of its surroundings that, 

 in its natural environment, it becomes practi- 

 cally lost to view. In other examples the insect 

 mimics some particular object both in shape and 

 colour, and still further adds to the deception by 

 the realistic attitude it assumes. 



The Caterpillars of the Geometer Moths, 

 commonly called " loopers," are typical examples 

 of this more intricate form of protection. The 

 loopers mimic the twigs and shoots of their food 

 plant in a wonderfully life-like way. Clasping the 

 stem with the hind pair of pro-legs they incline 

 their bodies outward at a sharp angle, and in this 

 position will remain motionless for hours. So 

 deceptive is the appearance of these Caterpillars 

 that a well-known naturalist, Mr. Jenner Wier, 

 said : " After being thirty^years an entomologist 

 I was deceived myself, and took out my pruning 

 scissors to cut from a plum tree a spur which 

 I thought I had overlooked. This turned out to 

 be the larva of a Geometer two inches long. I 



