MIMICRY. 541 



haps Prof. Weismann is scarcely justified in observing, " one 

 may reasonably complain when compelled to repeat again and 

 again these elements of knowledge and of thought upon the 

 causes of transformation."* A recent writer would apparently 

 regard the Phasmidce as examples of active mimicry. He is 

 reported as saying : — " Amongst true instincts he would class 

 such acts of protective mimicry as those performed by the 

 Phasmidce, although their alleged practice of shamming death 

 might possibly be constitutional lethargy, which had misled 

 observers."! We have already recorded Mr. Belt's observation 

 in Nicaragua as to the behaviour of a leaf-like Locust when 

 surrounded by a host of predaceous Ants. A somewhat similar 

 fact has been narrated by " Eha " : — <; I was sitting high up in a 

 tree, rifle in hand, waiting for a Tiger, when my attention was 

 caught by one of these Crickets (exactly resembling a small patch 

 of grey lichen) scurrying round the trunk of a neighbouring tree, 

 with a Lizard in full pursuit. Just as the Lizard came up with 

 it the Cricket, falling in with a slight depression in the bark, 

 stopped dead, and flattened itself out, and the Lizard was utterly 

 confounded. There it stood, looking ludicrously puzzled at the 

 mysterious disappearance of its prey, which was just under its 



* ' Lectures on Heredity,' &c, 2nd edit., Eng. transl., vol. i. p. 410. 



j C. W. Purnell, ' Phil. Instit. Canterbury, New Zealand.' — Cf. abstract 

 in 'Nature,' vol. lii. p. 384. — The "feigning of death " among some animals, 

 especially reptiles, may be taken as a psychological parallel to active' mimi- 

 cry. Nevertheless, it has been argued that with insects this process is a 

 " purely reflex phenomenon," rather than an act of volition. Mr. Latter 

 experimented with the Currant Moth (Abraxas grossulariata), whose powers 

 of "shamming" are so familiar. When seized by one wing it at once 

 feigned death, but so it also did after being decapitated, and this action was 

 continued in response to the same stimulus during the two days that elapsed 

 before its death (' Nature,' vol. lii. p. 548). Like Toads, Tree-frogs do not 

 appear to touch the insects on which they prey until these begin to move 

 ( l Koy. Nat. Hist.' vol. v. p. 281). The feigning of death apparently has a 

 protective purpose among the inferior animals. Prince Kropotkin, on the 

 authority of Nagel, states : — " The water-beetle (Dytlscus) does not perceive 

 the presence of animals which it preys upon within a distance of a few 

 millimetres, so long as they remain motionless " (' Nineteenth Century,' 

 vol. xl. p. 253). Mr. Oxley Grabhatn records an instance of a Grasshopper 

 Warbler (Locustella nczvia) feigning death when touched on the nest, 

 allowing herself to be handled as if dead — "a quivering of the eyelid was 

 all that showed she was shamming" (/ Zoologist,' 4th ser. vol. ii. p. 351). 



