110 ANIMAL COLORATION. 



relate of how lie was taken in by a protectively-coloured insect. 

 These stories are, told with a curiously exaggerated delight at 

 the deception, and often with a framework of details tending 

 to throw the deception into still greater prominence. Professor 

 Drummond, in his most fresh and interesting little book, 

 *' Tropical Africa," tells us that he went to that country 

 resolved to be proof against the frauds of insects, and sus- 

 picious that " the descriptions of Wallace and the others were 

 somewhat highly coloured." The insect which succeeded in 

 deceiving Professor Drummond was one of the Mantids. 

 Professor Drummond, however, relates with somewhat of an 

 imprudent (and, I am disposed to think, unintentional) candour, 

 that his black companion recognised the animal nature of the 

 supposed wisp of hay at once. It seems to me that that part 

 of the story is the most important. I have not been to Central 

 Africa, but I have seen twenty jDcople pass a " Tiger moth " — a 

 •conspicuous insect anywhere, and particularly so when it was 

 sitting, and not one of them noticed it, and yet it was probably 

 new, in spite of its being a common insect, to most of them. 

 The fact is that we must get out of the way of judging 

 instances of this kind from the human standpoint. The most 

 acute observers among us are dull comjjared with uncivilised 

 man and many animals. Any one who will take the trouble 

 to inspect the plate of Prof. Westwood's recently published 

 monograph upon the Mantids can see how all the members of 

 this group resemble sticks and bits of straw. This resemblance, 

 as we think it, is a race character. 



Protective Coloration in Spiders. 



Mr. H. 0. Forbes, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1SS3, p. 586, relates how 

 he was taken in by the coloration of a spider : — 



"On June 25th, 1881, in the forest near the village of 

 Lempar, on the banks of the Moesi river, in Sumatra, while my 



