310 Ovipdsition and Nursing in the Genus Dendrobates. [April 
invisible, just as a small dark object becomes almost invisible 
immediately after gazing at a scarlet cloth or a candle. I have 
noticed similar effects produced by color-spots in certain insects, 
especially the butterflies, which are often vividly colored on the 
inner surface of the wings, so that they are extremely conspicu- 
ous when flying; but as soon as the insect comes to rest these 
colors disappear, and the plain outer surface of the wings is, by 
contrast, momentarily invisible. 
Note sy E. D. Copz.—Examination of the specimens col- 
lected by Mr. Smith shows that they belong to a species of the 
genus Dendrobates, which 
I have described under the 
catus* Itagrees in most of 
its characters with D. trivit- 
tatus Spix.,but is very much 
smaller, not measuring half 
Daa F et its linear dimensions. As 
enarovates braccatus Fitzinger. Views from ; 
side and below. Copied from Steindachner, the specimens are, accord- 
(None of my specimens have so much. black ing to Mr. Smith, adult they 
below.—E. D. C.) ae 
: must be regarded as specifi- 
cally distinct. It is also related to the D. hahneli of Boulenger, 
but differs in the considerably shorter posterior limbs, . 
The singular manner in which this species carries its larvæ 
constitutes a method of nursing distinct from any of those enu- 
merated by Mr. Boulenger in'his table in the Annals and Maga- 
zine of Natural History for 1886, of which I give a copy, inserting 
the Dendrobates : 
I. The ovum is small and the larva leaves it in a comparatively early embryonic 
, . condition. 
A. The ova are laid in the water. 
Probably the majority of Batrachians ; all European forms except Alytes, 
B. The ova are deposited out of the water. 
a. In holes on the banks of pools, which become filled with water after heavy 
hus liberating the larvæ. 
ylus ocellatus, L.; L. mystacinus Burm. > Paludicola gracilis Blør, 
b. On leaves above the water, the larvæ dropping down when leaving the egg. 
i rufescens Gthr.; Phyllomedusa Jheringii Blgr. 
II. The yolk-sac is very large, and the young undergoes the whole or part of the 
m d assume an inde- 
losis within the egg; at any rate the larva does not 
pendent existence until after the loss of the external gills. 
* Proceedings Amer. Philosoph. Soc., 1887, April. 
2 Proceed. Zool. Soc. London, 1883, p. 636, Pl. LVII., Fig. 4. 
name of Dendrobates brac- . 
Y 
