BUTTERFLIES, MOTHS AND CICADAS 203 



habitat, each aHght in its own pecuHar way, before we 

 can appreciate how closely function is interwoven with 

 structure and both with the protective scheme. 



More numerous and undoubted examples of pro- 

 tective coloration are to be found in the suborder of 

 moths. The place to seek them is in some shady glen 

 where only a rare shaft of light gleams in between the 

 trees and where no intruder enters to disturb their 

 daylight haunts. They love the silent gloom where 

 the long ferns droop down about the rocks, where the 

 pale grey lichen clings about the trunks and the moss 

 in tufted sprays hangs pendent from the oaks. Here 

 they gather for the day amidst the dark and dripping 

 foliage, where not a sound is heard to break the 

 silence but the shrill noise of the cicada or the rumble 

 of some distant stream. Many different kinds occur, 

 each suitably adapted to the special nature of its own 

 abode. Gnophus acciptraria is a dull grey-coloured 

 moth nearly three inches in expanse, mottled with 

 brown and with darker patches near the tips of the 

 wings. This species was frequently seen between 

 7000 and 8000 feet, where it used to haunt the 

 limestone cliffs and harmonized in a most perfect 

 manner with the mottled colour of the stone. It 

 is an insect of fairly strong flight and moves about 

 after dark, at which time it is often attracted to the 

 glare of an artificial light. In open places it is more 

 uncommon ; but in a dark glen, where the trees drip with 

 moisture and the bosses of limestone project through 

 the decaying soil, this species will almost certainly be 

 found. It seldom alights anywhere except on a grey 

 block of limestone, usually in some dim recess where 

 it clings head downwards with outstretched wings 



