in the Hind Wing of Catocala, Schr. 449 



upper side of the fore wings ; this object is, moreover, alhuled 

 to by von Bock in the passage in which, referring to Cafo- 

 cala, he states tliat the moths on being frightened up by him 

 suddenly disappeared before his eye.^, witliout his liavino- 

 been able to observe where they had settled. Herein there 

 lies an inconsistency, however: if the destined function of 

 the bright colour in the case of Catocala were to turn the 

 attention of the pursuer to itself, and if the bird then made 

 use of the chance of seizing its victim by the wing, it would 

 be impossible for so large a moth as Catocala to conceal itself 

 unnoticed at so short a distance from its enemy. But what 

 do we see in reality ? The structure of the wings of the red 

 Catocala, as also the relative size and the shape of its body, 

 render the insect capable of strong and rapid flight. The 

 coloration of the species in question differs from that of the 

 other species owing to the hind wings being red on the upper 

 side and provided with two black transverse bands, while the 

 grey dark-striped fore wings ap[)ear perfectly adapted to tiie 

 tree-bark on which the moth usually settles ; the under side 

 is characterized by a light ground-colour, bordered by two 

 black bands. By day we generally find our Catocala at rest 

 on a tree-trunk ; it is excessively shy and flies up if approached 

 ever so gently. Its flight is not regular, but, on the contrary, 

 interrupted; it darts from one side to the other, settles 

 suddenly on a tree^ flits up again, and frequently makes one 

 or two more short flights of this kind before finally settling 

 down. At times it flies no farther, but merely makes, as it 

 A\ere, a jump to one side, and settles again upon the same 

 tree, but on the opposite side and higher up. These irregular 

 interrupted movements render the insect uncommonly difficult 

 to capture. On settling it makes a dart with lightning-like 

 rapidity in the direction of its chosen resting-place, and then 

 drops down there, having thus again made it extremely 

 difficult to fix the spot with the eye. The fact that on the 

 approach of an enemy our moth does not remain quietly 

 sitting still as other mimetic species are wont to do, but 

 endeavours to save itself by flying away, certainly points to 

 the conclusion that in this case flight is of greater importance 

 for the self-preservation of the insect than the mimetic colora- 

 tion of the fore wings — that is to say, flight attains the 

 object of leading the pursuer astray, and then, with the 

 assistance afforded by the coloration, rendering it possible for 

 the moth to settle un perceived. 



The characteristic flight of our Catocala compels the enemy 

 to make a special effort with its visual apparatus, in order to 

 keep its prey within view ; in the pursuit the bird fixes its 

 Ann. 6f Mij. N. Hist. Sor. 7. Vol. xvi. 30 



