188 



STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL 



CHAP. 



One of the most curious of these resemblances is that 

 of the BufF-tip moth {Pygcera huccphala). This insect 

 closes its wings so as almost to form a cylinder ; and on 

 the tip of each wing is an oval yellowish spot, edged with 

 a dark brown double line. The wings are greyish and 

 hoary ; and the head, again, is much contracted beneath 

 the large thorax, which is also of a buff colour, with a 

 double brown marginal line. The result of this arrange- 

 ment is that the insect looks at first sight like a piece of 



Fig. 45.— buff-tip moth. 



stick, one end being broken off nearly square, the other 

 end more obliquely (Fig. 45) ; and as it often rests on the 

 ground, among grass or on leaves, it may easily be mis- 

 taken for a piece of a broken branch which has fallen to 

 the ground. Many more of these beautiful adaptations 

 remain to be discovered in our native insects. That most 

 elegant insect, the Elephant Hawk moth, is of a reddish- 

 pink colour, mingled with dull yellowish-green, and with 

 specks and streaks of white ; but it has not been noticed 



