186 INSECT PESTS 



conclusion as sufficient is quite inconceivable to me 

 except on the grounds of mere conceit, and that is not a 

 just charge to make against them. The whole realm of 

 nature simply teems with examples of lovely things which 

 can not be explained as only adaptation to environment, 

 which has become a catch-phrase much mouthed by 

 would-be expositors at odd times. And yet adaptation 

 to environment is no fallacy. The secret is that it is 

 only half the story. The other half we shall see presently, 

 or at least a humble contribution thereto. Take again 

 one example by the way. The Peacock Butterfly rests 

 with its wings folded on a tree-trunk and no one can see 

 it except with a trained eye. Now this effect may very 

 well have been produced by the constant weeding out of 

 those insects not so darkly ma.rked on the underside 

 through capture by birds and other enemies, but the 

 wonderful coloration of the upper surfaces suggests no 

 mere subservience to utility or protection. Any one 

 seeing this insect alive for the first time, " displaying " 

 itself in full sunlight, will find it easy to believe that here 

 at least Nature has gone into her studio in a divine moment 

 and brought out a work of heavenly artistry. Those 

 gorgeous ocellated spots of blue and fawn, on a brick- 

 red ground, " dazzled " with such daring sweeps of ebony, 

 sepia and white, and wing bases clothed with dusky 

 silken down, are more than a game of chance. Nor is 

 all this beauty a question of sex attraction, as happens 

 in the case of many birds, for both male and female are 

 here alike. Then, supposing we can explain satisfactorily 

 the formation of this glorious colour scheme given to a 

 simple weed-eating butterfly ; we have still only described 

 the means to an end as yet unknown. Further, if those 

 wondrous wings could be placed under a high-power 

 objective so that the Avhole butterfly could be seen at 

 once it is no exaggeration to say that we should remain 

 spell-bound at the revealed grandeur before us. Are we 

 to say that such matchless beauty has been reserved 



