302 



THE COLOURS OF ANIMALS 



. . 

 of male approaching female (from Peckham). 



last the female, either won by his beauty or worn out 

 by his persistence, accepts his addresses.' In the 



male of Habroces- 

 tum splendens the 

 abdomen is of a 

 magnificent pur- 

 plish red, and he 

 assumes an atti- . 

 tude which displays 

 this beauty very 

 completely (see 

 fig. 64). 



The case of 

 Astia vittata is es- 

 pecially interesting, 

 because there are 

 two well marked 

 varieties of male, 

 one red like the 

 female, and the 

 other black, with 

 three tufts of hair 

 on the cephalo- 

 thorax. The two 

 forms pass into each 

 other, although the 

 tufts only occur in 



the fully developed niger form. The attitudes and 

 movements of courtship are entirely different in the 



FIG. 66. Astia vittata, var. niger ; position of 

 black variety of male approaching female (from 

 Peckham). 



