. Nature sketches in temperate America, a series of sketches and a popular account of insects, birds, and plants, treated from some aspects of their evolution and ecological relations . flEN we view moths inenloHiological collections,uith wings spread andneatly arranged on pins,how little do we appreciate thereal philosophy of their varied markings!Who, for instance, would understand themeaning of the form and markings on thejT wings of the little moth, Acontia erastriodes, hereportrayed, unless it were studied with relation to its naturalsurroundings. This moth in nature bears a close resem-b
. Nature sketches in temperate America, a series of sketches and a popular account of insects, birds, and plants, treated from some aspects of their evolution and ecological relations . flEN we view moths inenloHiological collections,uith wings spread andneatly arranged on pins,how little do we appreciate thereal philosophy of their varied markings!Who, for instance, would understand themeaning of the form and markings on thejT wings of the little moth, Acontia erastriodes, hereportrayed, unless it were studied with relation to its naturalsurroundings. This moth in nature bears a close resem-blance to the excrement of a bird. During August, I foundit quite common on Ihe leaxcs of low herbage m a disturbed, it often flies from its exposed position on theupper side of a leaf, to some other similar position on plantsa few yards away. I have flushed as many as three of thesemoths within an area of a few yards. The one shown in the photograph is a typical appears just as it was found en the leaf along with a bird PROTECXnE RESEMBLANCE, WITH EXAMPLES 95. Ccomrtrid on iniij of Sote the finicra! to a branch and a leaf xcar at tlie middle of tlie l>i>dy. 96 NATURE SKETCHES IN TEMPERATE AMERICA dropping which it resembles. While this moth remains qnieton the leaf, it may be mistaken by birds for their own excre-ment, and in this way escapesdestruction. The extent ofprotection afforded to mothsexhibiting this type of formand coloration may be morereadily understood when thedistribution of this particulargenus is studied. The genus Acontia isfound in lioth hemispheresand in our fauna thirty-fiverecognized species have beendescribed within the limits of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectins
