THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF INSECTS. 89 



the case of insects, almost as important as in that of 

 flowers. Among the beetles, black will be frequently 

 found contrasted with a bright red or orange, and such 

 combinations of colour are almost impossible to deal 

 with on ordinary non-corrected plates. 



One cannot leave the subject of insects without 

 some reference to the phenomenon of mimicry. The 

 original hypothesis declared that certain edible insects 

 were, in the struggle for existence, enabled to avoid 

 their enemies by an 

 appearance which re- 

 sembled certain other 

 non-edible insects. 

 This resemblance was 

 not confined to mem- 

 bers of closely allied 

 species. The hypo- 

 thesis is disputed, but wasp. 

 photographers will for- 

 tunately be concerned more with the facts than 

 the discussion. A branch of the subject of mimicry 

 which is of exceptional interest is that which treats of 

 the resemblances between insects of different orders. 

 We may take, as an instance, the resemblance of the 

 clear-wing moths to bees or wasps. In treating this 

 branch of the subject photographically, it is obviously 

 necessary to take stringent precautions for securing 

 correct colour values. If possible, both moth and wasp 

 should be secured on the same plate. Similar caution 

 is necessarv when dealing with examples of the more 



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