258 



MR. E. B. POULTON ON THE PROTECTIVE [Mar. 1, 



Table V. 



Species and Class or 

 Order. 



HvMENOPTERA. 



Winged females of Ants, 

 sp. ? 



Workers of Ants, ap. ?. 



Apis mellifica 



Andrena n'ujro-mnca . 



Protective resemblance, or habits of concealment, evasion, &c. 



4. Imagines of other Insects and a few Artiiropoda 



Colour and some of the habits appear to be protective. The gregarious habits, 

 however, make them conspicuous, but are very important iu rendering their 

 acid secretion more formidable. 



As above 



Workers made use of in all cases. The brown colouring renders the insects 

 somewhat inconspicuous. The comparison in this respect with the more 

 formidable Wasp is interesting. 



The insects bear considerable superficial resemblance to the workers of the last 

 species. 



Newman states, " always I believe on herbaceous plants, never ascen- 

 ding trees." In this respect Newman is mistaken, for I have fre- 

 qnently found the full-grown larva feeding on the leaves of plum in 

 my own garden, and it was such an individual which was given to 

 i. murahs. 



I can now add my own experience of the larval habits subsequent 

 to the period at which Newman has described them. Iu the winter 

 of 18S4-5, I kept a number of larvae and watched them from time 

 to time throughout the wliole period of hybernation. As the room in 

 which they were kept was warmed, they frequently woke up at 

 night and fed upon the Calceolaria-leaves with which they were 

 supplied. I was most interested in observing the extreme care with 

 which they were concealed by day. If there were any brown leaves 

 among the food the larvae would always get upon these, and, not 

 content with the harmony between their colour and that of the leaf, 

 would force their way into furrows and folds, so that they came to 

 lie in deep shadow and were often quite concealed. I took some 

 pfiins to see what the larvae would do when all the brown leaves were 

 carefully removed, and I found that, by seeking the darkest corners 



