THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 189 
tection, but once this is overcome the animal falls an easy prey. 
Mimicry is the form of protection we are dealing with here. 
Nature has provided the Animal Kingdom with examples of 
this from the lower organisms to the highest; we see it in 
various grades of development, and it is undoubtedly one of 
the most efficient means of protection. Starting from the in- 
sects we see it well illustrated in the stick and leaf insects; 
these Orthoptera are found on plants much the colour of 
themselves, and the attitude assumed gives them a very real 
resemblance to the plants on which they live. We have very 
good examples of these in New South Wales. 
In the Lepidoptera we see it very well developed, both 
in the larval stage and the adult. The looper caterpillar as- 
' sumes an attitude in which the hind pair of claspers alone are 
grasping the twig, the body being held out rigid at varying 
angles minutely, resembling a twig, and is sometimes difficult to 
detect even by trained eyes. The moths of these caterpillars, 
too, have a mottled pattern, and. when assuming their charac- 
teristic attitude with wings spread flat and resting on the sur- 
face of bark just the colour of themselves almost defy detec- 
tion. In butterflies one sees it especially well marked; one of 
the most perfect examples I know of is that of the Indian leaf 
butterfly where the tails of the wings when closed rest against 
the stem of the plant looking just like a leaf stalk. We have 
many examples of mimicry in butterflies in New South Wales, 
e.g., Doleschallia, Melanitis leda, Heteronympha merope, Xenica 
kluggi and X. acantha to mention only a few. The wings of 
these butterflies are brightly coloured above, but when the in- 
sect alights and closes its wings vertically over its back, it re- 
sembles very closely its surroundings in the shape of dead leaves 
on the ground. 
Ascending in the seale to vertebrates we sce mimiery well 
developed in fish. A certain salt water fish about our shores 
called  Antennarius nummifer is fashioned by Nature 
in such a way that it closely resembles the seaweeds among 
which it lies concealed, but in this case, besides affording pro- 
tection from its enemies, it has another purpose to fulfil, name- 
ly, to attract smaller fry on which it feeds without giving signs 
of its presence. The inside of the mouth, which it keeps open, 
is eoloured in almost exact representation of its surroundings. 
Now comes into play a special apparatus by means of which 
it greatly increases its chance of getting food, and this is in 
the form of a stalked appendage attached to the front of its 
head bearing at its free end a fimbriated fleshy knob which it 
