ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
121 
1THOMIID BUTTERFLY NEAR DANCING GROUND 
Photograph by John Tee-Van. 
fluences. But careful search failed to reveal 
anything which might give the faintest clue to 
the cause of the gathering, although the ground 
for many yards around was sifted and the twigs 
and branches searched for many feet. 
N-ear the center of the arena a single butter¬ 
fly would take its stand. Its wings waved 
slowly up and down two or three times, accom¬ 
panied by a rapid raising and lowering of the 
antennae, each antenna often acting independ¬ 
ently, and in unusual positions. At the same 
time the insect hopped sideways in such a man¬ 
ner that the hind feet were used as pivots, and 
changing its position from an eighth to a sixth 
of the distance around a circle from the position 
it originally occupied. The butterfly never left 
the one spot, but circled on one tiny point, 
standing high on the tips of its legs, and with 
abdomen raised almost straight into the air, 
wholly unlike the usual horizontal position oc¬ 
cupied by this portion of their body. This 
performance in all its details was repeated over 
and over, the insect at times making a complete 
circle, at other times flying up to a twig before 
it had completed the entire round. 
Sometimes the next performer would be 
ready, or the stage deserted for a few minutes. 
Then another would slowly drift down from the 
twigs surrounding the dancing ground, and the 
dance go on, to be continued by others after the 
performer had finished. 
The fifty or sixty individuals of this, appar¬ 
ently friendly gathering were not entirely con¬ 
genial. Many times a flying butterfly trying to 
alight near another was rebuffed by a waving of 
wings and antennae coupled with a short jump, 
plainly indicating to the intruder that his com¬ 
pany was not desired. 
Hour after hour the dance continued, one in¬ 
dividual after another impelled by some strange 
butterfly instinct. Late in the afternoon their 
numbers gradually lessened. A few leaves on 
the topmost branches of a nearby tree rustled 
with the first breath of an approaching breeze. 
Two minutes later a clap of thunder announced 
the arrival of a great electric storm, and with 
the first cool breath, every insect had disap¬ 
peared, leaving the mystery of the dance as 
completely hidden as it was in the beginning. 
