38 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



I put some of the smaller beetles into a breeding-cage with a female 

 Papilio asterias, and sat up one night with a shaded candle in a dark 

 room, doubtful if the beetles would still attack the butterfly under 

 these conditions. It was some time before the beetles got over their 

 dislike to the confined quarters and the partial light, but, when at last 

 they began to move, I saw one of them make two attacks on the P. 

 asterias which was sleeping near the top of the cage. The first on- 

 slaught was unsuccessful, as the beetle only bit off the tails of the 

 butterfly's hindwing, but on the latter falling to the floor of the cage 

 in alarm and fluttering there, its enemy, dashing up from behind, 

 seized its abdomen in its jaws and began to devour the living butter- 

 fly which flapped helplessly along, dragging the beetle along with it. 

 I released the butterfly, which was, however, much injured, though 

 able to fly the next morning when I gave it its liberty. 



Between the end of last May and the beginning of October, I took 

 from a dozen traps in my butterfly-house nearly 3000 carnivorous 

 beetles, including many of the larger kinds, one of which I think I 

 have identified as C. violacens, and towards the end of the period I 

 found that my butterflies did not disappear with anything like the 

 frequency with which they used to during the early summer. 



Chary, as I know one should be, of hasty generalisations in matters 

 of this kind, I should like to suggest that the danger from carnivorous 

 beetles and other nocturnal enemies may have had much to do with 

 evolving the sleeping habits, and appearance when at rest, of the 

 Ehapolocera as we know them. The vertically-folded wings would 

 protect the insect from a sudden attack from behind on its head which 

 I have observed to be the point generally chosen, whilst the wing- 

 cases, legs, etc., would adequately shield the sides. I notice that. 

 Papilio palainedes, which has the habit of roosting on the highest trees 

 it can find, is said to sleep with its wings open, which Scudder calls 

 very remarkable. Perhaps in this attitude it is safe from the attack 

 from Coleoptera and other nocturnal foes. Again, I have noticed that 

 the Papilios, which represent a somewhat primitive form of butterfly, 

 sleep with their antennae outstretched as though to warn them of any 

 danger, whilst the more highly specialised kinds, such as the Vanessids,. 

 sleep with their antenna- pressed up against the costa of the forewings,. 

 and evidently rely for protection upon their resemblance to surrounding 

 objects, the markings of their undersides being much more developed 

 than is the case with the P apilionidae which I have observed. I have 

 noticed, too, that I lose butterflies protected like Pyrameis cardai, 

 Vanessa io, Eiu/onia pohjchloros, etc., much less frequently than 

 the Papilios. Again, the habit of so many butterflies such as 

 the Lycaenidae, Satyridae, etc., of roosting on slender grass sterns, 

 may serve as a protection against bulky enemies such as the 

 larger beetles, which would bear them down in the effort to 

 climb, and so awaken their prey. Perhaps, also, the tails of 

 the Papilios are protection against the beetles, for, by projecting, 

 they both shield the butterfly's abdomen, and may, by resem- 

 bling antennge, cause their foes to attack a less vital part than 

 the head. Hahnel, quoted by Weismann, shows how the tails afford 

 protection against lizards, " which, after snapping, often find them- 

 selves obliged to be content with the tail alone, while the rest of the 

 animal flies away practically uninjured," and I have certainly been. 



