€hap. XI. 
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
395 
(Triphaena) often fly about during the day or early 
evening, and are then conspicuous from the colour of 
their hind-wings. It would naturally be thought that 
this would be a source of danger ; but Mr. J. Jenner 
Weir believes that it actually serves them as a means 
of escape, for birds strike at these brightly coloured and 
fragile surfaces, instead of at the body. For instance, 
Mr. Weir turned into his aviary a vigorous specimen of 
Triphaena pronuba , which was instantly pursued by 
a robin ; but the bird’s attention being caught by the 
coloured wings, the moth was not captured until after 
about fifty attempts, and small portions of the wings 
were repeatedly broken off. He tried the same experi- 
ment, in the open air, with a T. fimbria and swallow ; 
but the large size of this moth probably interfered 
with its capture . 8 We are thus reminded of a state- 
ment made by Mr. Wallace , 9 namely, that in the Bra- 
zilian forests and Malayan islands, many common and 
highly-decorated butterflies are weak flyers, though fur- 
nished with a broad expanse of wings ; and they “ are 
“ often captured with pierced and broken wings, as if 
“they had been seized by birds, from which they had 
“ escaped : if the wings had been much smaller in pro- 
“ portion to the body, it seems probable that the insect 
46 would more frequently have been struck or pierced in 
“a vital part, and thus the increased expanse of the 
“ wings may have been indirectly beneficial.” 
Display . — The bright colours of butterflies and of 
some moths are specially arranged for display, whether 
or not they serve in addition as a protection. Bright 
8 See also, on this subject, Mr. Weir’s paper in 4 Transact. Ent. Soc.’ 
1869, p. 23. 
9 ‘Westminster Review,’ July, 1867, p. 16. 
