18 



creeps. If one of these caterpillars is kept in confinement, without- 

 access to any kind of bark, it will make its cocoon out of all sorts 

 of miscellaneous objects, even making it out of pieces of highly 

 coloured ribbon. 



We must noAV turn to the last stage of the butterfly or moth's 

 life — that of the perfect insect. Here we have again protective 

 resemblance, warning colours, and mimicry. As a familiar 

 instance of protective resemblance, I would mention that of Thecla 

 rubi ffche Green Hairstreak). This pretty httle insect is fairly 

 common in the Warren. The upper sides of the wings are of a 

 very dark brown, but the under sides are of a bright green. Whea 

 seen on the wing it is easy to distinguish, but directly it alights on 

 a hawthorn bush or on the guelder rose it is lost to sight. This 

 apparent disappearance is brought about by the butterfly closing 

 its wings over its back, so that the undersides harmonize exactly 

 with the leaves on which it is sitting. Among our British moths 

 the Buff tip {Phalera bucephala) is a very interesting example of 

 protective resemblance. When found at rest, sitting with its wings 

 folded closely round its body, and its antennae tucked under its 

 wings, it looks just like a piece of stick, or a projection of the bark 

 on which it sits. Many butterflies resemble dead leaves on their 

 tinder side ; but this form of protection attains its greatest perfec- 

 tion in the tropics. In the Malay islands there are some large and 

 showy butterflies, orange and bluish on the upper side, frequenting 

 dry forests. They always settle on dry foliage, and in that position 

 exactly resemble a dead leaf. This is effected by the butterfly 

 settling on a twig, with the short tail of the hind wings just touch- 

 ing it and forming the leaf stalk. To still further complete the 

 resemblance, the wings are covered with small black dots, so exactly 

 resembling the minute fungi on dead leaves that it is diflBcult to 

 believe that the insects themselves are not attacked by some such 

 parasite. Another has its wings so formed that it has the appear- 

 ance of having had a portion of them eaten away by some larvae or 

 other insect. 



Other forms of protection are those afforded by mimicing wasps 

 and bees, and unpalatable species of their own order. As an 

 example of the first kind, I may mention some of the hawk moths,, 

 and the clearwings (specimens of which can be seen on the platform 

 after the lecture.) This is especially the case of Specia apiformis 

 (sometimes called the Hornet moth.) As it sits sunning itself on 

 the brink of poplar trees, it looks extremely like a hornet or large 

 wasp, which is rendered more unpleasantly lifelike by the habit of 

 moving its abdomen as if in the act of stinging. The whole family 

 of the Cesidae (or clearwings) bear striking resemblances to different 

 kinds of flies. As I was hunting for one of the species last 



