206 THE HARMONIES OP NATURE 



of plants. But the delusion of form and colour is nowhere 

 carried to such perfection as in the family of the Phasmidse, 



Peacock Butterfly. Red Admiral Butterfly. 



(Vanessa Io.) (Vanessa alalanta.) 



popularly known under the name of c walking-sticks' and c walk- 

 ing leaves.' The latter, exhibiting the 

 most cunning of all Nature's devices for 

 the preservation of her creatures, are 

 found in the Indian jungles in all varie- 

 ties of hues, from the pale-yellow of an 

 opening bud to the rich green of the 

 full-blown leaf, and the withered tint of 

 decay. So perfect is the imitation of a 

 leaf in structure and articulation, that 

 these amazing insects, when at rest, are 

 . almost undistinguishablefrom the foliage 

 around ; not only are the wings modelled 



to resemble ribbed and fibrous follicles, but every joint of the 

 legs is expanded into a broad plait, like a half-opened leaflet. 

 They rest on their abdomen, the legs serving to drag them slowly 

 along, and thus the flatness of their attitude adds still further 

 to the appearance of a leaf. This wonderful plantlike semblance 

 extends even to the eggs, which might at first sight be mistaken 

 for the deeply-ribbed seeds of various umbelliferous plants. 



Many insects are defended by the extreme hardness of their 

 external coverings, which, though not capable of resisting the 

 powerful beak of a raptorial bird, still shield them against the 

 attacks of many an enemy of their own class. The- flinty hard- 

 ness of a beetle's coat-of-mail will frequently set the pin of 

 the entomologist at defiance, and even the skin of the common 

 horse-fly is so tough that the utmost pressure of the finger and 

 thumb will hardly deprive the little creature of its life. 



Others are endowed with so wonderful a vitality that they 

 resist for a length of time, or survive almost incredible injuries. 



