Abstract
PROF. ARMSTRONG'S criticisms are easily met. It is not going too far to ” assert that an insect deliberately hides”. The taking temporary shelter from sun is a different matter from assuming a position of complete rest in surroundings best suited to concealment for long periods. The case I mentioned was undoubtedly deliberate choice of a cluster of dead leaves, among others, by a Charaxes. I have repeatedly watched the Pierine butterfly Eronia cleodora, having been disturbed from undergrowth where it had settled late in the evening, deliberately settle again, after previously fluttering around, among the half-dead leaves from which it had been disturbed and with which its patchy yellow underside closely matched. The late Dr. G. B. Longstaff recounts the same experience on p. 194 of his book, ” Butterfly Hunting in Many Lands”, and gives a very accurate coloured plate to illustrate the point.
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CARPENTER, G. Insect Coloration. Nature 138, 243 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138243a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138243a0
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