NYMPHALIDiE. 
405 
number bear no obvious interpretation in our eyes but may have a 
protective value; it is perhaps unnecessary always to seek out the 
Fig, 275.— Danais limniace. 
value of the colour scheme in insects and it would be nice to think 
that butterflies are simply beautiful to be beautiful; it is, however, at 
the least likely that with beauty is combined some measure of 
practical use, and we may not unreasonably believe that the diverse 
colouring of most Nymphalids blends generally with the light and 
shade of a mass of vegetation particularly when they are regarded from 
the birds’ elevation and not from our level on the ground. Thaxter’s 
article in Transactions of the Entomological Society, 1903, p. 553, 
is worth perusal in this connection. Many butterflies of this family 
exhibit what has been called “ bird-misleading colouration,” the large 
distinct colour-marks on the wings diverting the bird’s aim for the head 
or body and so enabling the pursued to escape with only a bit taken 
out of its wing. 
The life-history so far as known is in general the same throughout 
the group. Eggs are laid singly on the foodplant, the larva that 
hatches feeding on the green tissues of the foodplant. While there 
is no definite means of identifying a Nymphalid larva in every case, the 
majority are of cylindrical form, with a distinct head, the body provided 
