338 Studies in the Theory of Descent. 



transverse rings on a dark ground, and they are 

 much more hairy than those of E. Jacobcecz. The 

 lizard first applied its tongue to this caterpillar and 

 then withdrew it, so that I believed it would also 

 be avoided ; nevertheless it was subsequently 

 eaten. The caterpillars of Saturnia Carpini were 

 similarly devoured in spite of their bristly hairs, 

 and likewise cuspidate larvae (Dicranura Vinuld), 

 notwithstanding their extraordinary appearance and 

 their forked caudal horn. 12 These lizards were by 

 no means epicures, but consumed large numbers of 

 earth-worms, slugs, and great caterpillars, and once 

 a specimen of the large and powerfully biting Or- 

 thopteron, Decticus Verucivorus. Creatures which 

 possessed a strongly repugnant odour were, how- 

 ever, always rejected, this being the case with the 

 strongly smelling beetle, Chrysomela Populi.-ds also 

 with the stinking centipede, lulus Terrestris^ 

 whilst the inodorous Lithobius Forficatus was 

 greedily eaten. I will call particular attention to 

 these last facts, because they favour the supposition 

 that with rejected caterpillars a disgusting odour 

 although perhaps not always perceptible by us 

 is the cause of their being unpalatable. 



Striking colours are of course only signals of 

 distastefulness, and the experiment with Bombyx 



12 [This bears out the view expressed in a previous note i, 

 p. 290, that the grotesque attitude and caudal tentacles are more 

 for protection against ichneumons than against larger foes. 

 R.M.] 



