. The butterfly book [microform] : a popular guide to a knowledge of the butterflies of North America. Butterflies; Papillons. Mimicry "And Hannah, my wife, says she 's heerd o' sech things; She guesses his brain warn't so metier. There 's a thing they call Nat'ral Histerry, she says, And, whatever the folks there may tell her, Till it's settled she 's wrong she '11 jest hold that-air man Was a Nat'ral Histenical ; Annib Trumbull Slosson. MIMICRY Protective mimicry as it occurs in animals may be the simula- tion in form or color, or both, of natural objects, or it may be the s
. The butterfly book [microform] : a popular guide to a knowledge of the butterflies of North America. Butterflies; Papillons. Mimicry "And Hannah, my wife, says she 's heerd o' sech things; She guesses his brain warn't so metier. There 's a thing they call Nat'ral Histerry, she says, And, whatever the folks there may tell her, Till it's settled she 's wrong she '11 jest hold that-air man Was a Nat'ral Histenical ; Annib Trumbull Slosson. MIMICRY Protective mimicry as it occurs in animals may be the simula- tion in form or color, or both, of natural objects, or it may be the simulation of the form and color of another animal, which for some reason enjoys immunity from the attacks of species which ordinarily prey upon its kind. Of course this mimicry is uncon- scious and is the result of a slow process of development which has, no doubt, gone on for ages. Remarkable instances of mimicry, in which things are simu- lated, are found in the insect world. The ''walking-sticks," as they are called, creatures which resemble the twigs of trees; the "leaf-insects," in wh'-h the foliage of plants is apparently reproduced in animate forms; the "leaf-butterfly" of India, in which the form and the color and even the venation of leaves are reproduced, are illustrations of mimicry which are familiar to all who have given any attention to the subject. Repulsive objects are frequently mimicked. A spider has been lately described from the Indo-Malayan region, which, as it rests upon the leaves, exactly resembles a patch of bird-lime. The resemblance is so exact as to deceive the most sagacious, and the discovery of the creature was due to the fact that the naturalist who happened to see it observed, to his surprise, that what he was positive was a mass of ordure was actually in motion. A similar case of mimicry is observable among some of the small acontiid moths of North America. One of these is pure white, with the tips of the fore wings dar
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Keywords: ., bookauth, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbutterflies
