254 BUTTERFLIES 



lepidoptera are much affected in Madagascar by atmospheric 

 changes. In the misty mornings everything sleeps or hides 

 itself under the damp foliage, but as soon as the sun shines out, 

 the forest, the footpath, the beds of the torrents, are peopled 

 with bright-coloured and light-flying butterflies. They give 

 themselves up to all kinds of frolic witn a wanton joy ; they 

 court, they pursue, they fly, interlacing and eddying in their 

 flight in the air like the brilliant flakes of a coloured snow." In 

 travelling up through this eastern forest a few years later, but 

 in the hotter season of the year, I was struck by the number and 

 variety .of ,the. butterflies which, crossed our path. There was 

 the rather common one of greyish-green with dark markings, 

 the blackish-brown one with two large blue spots, the widely 

 distributed warm brown one with black-edged wings, the pure 

 white one, the white with orange edges, the white with black 

 edges, the white with small black spots near the edge of the 

 wings, the small yellow species, the small buff one, the white 

 with crimped edges, the minute brown and blue, and many 

 others. In damp places, a cloud of the smaller yellow and buff 

 kinds may be often seen sipping the moisture. 



While staying near the forest I was several times struck by 

 the curious formation of the wings of one of the smaller species 

 of butterfly. The insect in question is of plain inconspicuous 

 colouring, chiefly shades of brown, and when at rest sits with 

 the wings erect. The noticeable point is that there are several 

 strongly marked and dark-tinted processes from the hinder part 

 of the wings, which resemble the head, eyes and antennae of a 

 butterfly, so that when at rest it is very difficult to say which 

 is the head and which is the tail of the insect. The tail mark- 

 ings and points are so much more strongly emphasised than the 

 actual head and antennae, that it is only when the wings 

 slightly open that one is undeceived. Mimicry of one insect 

 by another, and mimicry of leaves, grass, etc., by insects, are of 

 course well-known facts, but I do not remember to have seen any 

 similar instances noticed of resemblance between the different 

 parts of the same insect ; but may not the reason of this 

 mimicry of the head by the tail be of some service in directing 

 the attention of birds and other enemies to the less vital part 

 of the butterfly's structure ? It is evident that the hinder 

 portion of the wings might be snapped at and broken off, and 



