354 



Marvels of the Universe 



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[/■■, Knm-I.-, F.L.K. 



LAPPET MOTH. 



The Lappet moth when at rest so carries its wings as to 



give itself the appearance of a cluster of dead leaves, which 

 it resembles in colour. 





Photo )»!/] 



GREY ARCHES MOTH. 



The Grey Arches moth sits by day on the trunks of trees, 

 and its colour and markings so closely resemble the lichens and 

 irregularities of the bark that it is seen with difficulty. In the 

 photo the moth is about one-third less than the natural size 



onr butterfly has completelj' disappeared — 

 though probably it is sitting on a leaf or a 

 flower within a few inches of our eyes. What 

 has happened is that the wings have closed 

 together over the l^aclc, completely hiding their 

 brilHant upper surface and bringing the more 

 subdued ornamentation into view. This, as a 

 nile, so harmonizes with the immediate sur- 

 roundings that the butterfly is no longer 

 recognizable. One of our photographs shows 

 the conspicuous little Orange-tip butterfly 

 that has alighted upon a flower cluster of 

 Jack-b)^-the-hedgc. Its orange-tips are no 

 longer prominent, but the green mottling of 

 the underside is turned to us, and so well does 

 this match with the green and white parts of 

 the flower cluster that, even in the photograph, 

 it is difficult at first to detect the butterfly. 



I have said " even in the photograph," 

 because, as a rule, it is far easier to detect a 

 disguised insect in a photograph than it is in 

 Nature, for the area that the eye has to 

 wander over is small, and in most cases the 

 photographer almost mechanicall}' centres his 

 chief object. Another beautifully protected 

 butterfly is the Green Hairstreak. In this, only 

 the underside of the wings is coloured green : 

 but when the butterfly settles on the new 

 foliage of the beech, as it likes to do, and turns 

 up its wings to expose the green side, it is 

 seen with difficulty. The Comma butterfly, 

 whose wings have a very ragged margin, is 

 liright brown of various shades above, but 

 beneath it is clouded with duller, darker 

 browns, and when it is at rest and showing 

 tliis side, it might pass for a dead leaf. The 

 Lappet moth, of which also we give a portrait, 

 is, when at rest, like nothing so much as a 

 bunch of dead leaves. The Hook-tip moth 

 is much like the Comma butterfly in the 

 effect it produces when at rest, for it has the 

 butterfly habit, not common among moths, 

 of throwing its wings up vertically. The 

 Dotted Border, on the contrary, spreads its 

 wings half open and lets the edges come into 

 close contact with a dead leaf. If this is a 

 wintered oak-leaf, as frequently happens, the 

 colour matching is almost perfect ; in any 

 case, it is so close as makes the detection of 



