650 The Colors of Animals and Plants. [ November, 
1. Protective color» oF tal e 
. j a. creatures specially protected. 
Animals. 4 2. Warning colors. j b. Of defenseless creatures, mimicking a. 
3. Sexual colors. i 
4. Typical colors. 
Plants 5. Attractive colors 
The nature of the first two groups, protective and warning 
colors, has been so fully detailed and illustrated in my chapter 
on Mimicry and -other Protective Resemblances among Ani- 
mals! that very little need be added here except a few words of 
general explanation. Protective colors are exceedingly preva- 
lent in nature, comprising those of all the white arctic animals, 
the sandy-colored desert forms, and the green birds and insects 
of tropical forests. It also comprises thousands of cases of spe- 
cial resemblance, — of birds to the surroundings of their nests, and 
especially of insects to the bark, leaves, flowers, or soil, on or 
amid which they dwell. Mammalia, fishes, and reptiles, as well 
as mollusca and other marine invertebrates, present similar phe- 
nomena; and the more the habits of animals are investigated, 
the more numerous are found to be the cases in which their col- 
ors tend to conceal them, either from their enemies or from the 
creatures they prey upon. One of the last-observed and most 
curious of these protective resemblances has been communicated 
to me by Sir Charlés Dilke. He was shown in Java a pink-col- 
ored Mantis, which, when at rest, exactly resembled a pink or- 
chis flower. The Mantis is a carnivorous insect which lies m 
wait for its prey, and by its resemblance to a flower the insects 
it feeds on would be actually attracted toward it. This one 18 
said to feed especially on butterflies, so that it is really a living 
trap and forms its own bait! All who have observed animals, 
and especially insects, in their native haunts and attitudes can un- 
derstand how it is that an insect which in a cabinet looks exceed- 
ingly conspicous may yet, when alive, in its peculiar attitude of 
repose and with its habitual surroundings, be perfectly well con- 
cealed. We can hardly ever tell, by the mere inspection 0 = 
animal, whether its colors are protective or not. No one woul | 
imagine the exquisitely beautiful caterpillar of the emperor ag 
which is green with pink, star-like spots, to be protectively bool 
ored ; yet when feeding on the heather it so harmonizes with th 
foliage and flowers as to be almost invisible. Every day fresh 
cases of protective coloring are being discovered even in our own 
country, and it is becoming more and more evident that the nee” 
of protection has played a very important part in determinipg 
the actual coloration of animals. 
1 Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection, page 45. 
