LEAF-BUTTERFLIES 185 



in a cloud round some ash-tree in May, cannot be 

 distinguished from the leaves when they settle, and 

 fold up their brown wings so as to display the green 

 under-surface. 



More impressive still is the resemblance between 

 the leaf-butterflies of India and the dead foliage 

 amidst which they habitually rest. Seen in flight, 

 nothing could be more obvious than the purplish 

 brown wings flapping slowly and uncertainly in the 

 clearings. Seen at rest, nothing distinguishes the 

 insect from the leaves around it. The wings, folded 

 vertically, form a lanceolate area, produced by little 

 tails into an apparent stalk. Down the centre runs 

 a midrib with branches and veinings. In colour 

 the rusty brown of a dead leaf is exactly reproduced, 

 and, as if to carry the resemblance to perfection, the 

 holes and even the worm-eaten appearance of a leaf 

 is given in the butterfly's wings by clear spots and 

 irregular markings. No single detail of form, posture, 

 or marking is lacking to make the agreement com- 

 plete. The stick and leaf insects of the tropics carry 

 out faithful representations of twigs and green foliage. 

 So close is the resemblance, so motionless the insect, 

 that the very elect of ants are deceived, and fail to 

 discover in the insect actually underfoot any signs 

 of that nourishment they so eagerly search for and so 

 rapidly devour. The mantis, or praying insect, goes 

 beyond all others in its elaboration of floral designs. 

 Its head and three joints are decorated with flat 

 leafy appendages of some bright colour, white or pink, 



