, 1877-03-24
PROTECTIVE Af1MrCRY.


Mr., @. E. Dobson, the author OF "Mouo-
graph OF the Asiat!c Chlroptcra," has conmu
n!catcsl to Nature some facts relating TO tho
subject Of protective mimicry among bats, In
the course Of which tho following is quoted from
Mr.. SwEnhoc: IA species Of KtYiroHla. allied TO
4. pfeta aud Il. Jormosd, WIS brought to me BY
a native. The botly OF this Int was OF An ornngc-
brown; but Tho wings we're pointed with orange
yellow and black. Il was caught, suspended
heal downwan1s, on a cluster OF tho round
fruit Of the Longan.trcc (IYt,laeifnm lon0anum).
Now, this tree is an evergreen, and, nlt the year
through, sumn portion VI It's foliage ls UNDER
going decay,-tho particular 1eavca being. In
such stngc, partially orange and black. This
bnt can, therefore, at all seasons, suspend from
hlanec 10 tic icar Of tho tree. II was in August
when this specimen was brought 10 mo. It ha1
Ut that season found tho fruit ripe nnl reddish
yellow, and had tried to escape observation 10
tac se,nblanee OF It's own stnts to tbosc OF tile
Alr. Dohson notes that a familiar instance OF
what Is called protective m!micEy occurs IN the
spcclcB Of Tterulus, or ayfng-foxca Of 1ndta-
nesy Si9 ass s 5 Ss' e sr o. ~ s .s s ve ss
from tip to tip Of tho wings, The fur on tic
hind head Is generally q red or bull color, IN
strong contrast with the hruwn or black fur of
nc bask TssS solsrs wom seem to render
mics, but when suspended from the branches of
q banyau or silk-cotton treo {Ertotteudrou
Orientak) y 20 Iescml,lca their lnrgo dpe fruits
e BE- ea.y for te en i'a hang
nutralm, "cach with its head bent forward
Oil the chest, hls body wrapped up in
tho n1nplc folds Of tho farge WINGS, aud tho
beck ta!ned outwards, ths bright i. ly-eolered
semhlo the extremity OF q ripc cocoannt, with
which this animal also closely corresponds In
size."
color Of their coat, tho fruits OF tho Euaya,
plantaln, md mango, on which they feed. Mr.
Dobson considers, however, that the rescm.
hla,co between these flngiycrolis Cats and the
fruits Of the trees ou which they roost may bo
accidental. and that VIC arc not yet Justified by
the revelations OF Science in acccpting It Us the
result Of protective tntmscry.
ANTS.
At q recent meeting OF tho London LinnHan
soricty, Sit John Lubbock read Part ". ot his
contributions "On tho Habits OF Ants" Tho
extension Of bis observations sce,us to confirm
his conclusions that this insect has In certain
respects much less sagacity than lsas been popu-
larly attributed to Il. A party Of nnts with
which he was experimenting had been for hours
traversiug certain ruute TO deposit Of larvm
which thcy wcse transporting 10 their ncst, On
creating an interval Of only three-tenths Of an
inch in this ruuto between the lasvn aud tho
nest, tho ants wcro completely batlled, although
It was perfectly easy for then, to hare got over
tho interval, either by q drop from above or by
bridging tho distsnco from below. They ap-
parcntly had not sense enough to discover how
to sur1nount tho difficulty. +
Que Industrious specimen, which Biz John re-
bottle Tor hours, aud onco Tor DAYS, would IN
stAntly on 6ciug released resume work at the
transportation OF laEvG, although II had been
previously kept OH short commons. Ants Of
ono nest proved to know each other perfectly
we'll. Even after = separation Of year they
would recognize and receive zach otlur nn1ica-
by. On the other hand, strangers, particularly
Ut the spccic8 Ldt'ul }fdrus are almost lnvaF1a-
bly, attacked and ulaltreated, even when intro
duced IN tho 1ntxe.l company Of old friends.
Sir John cuncludcs TINT tho ant Is defective Ia
sight. As evidence OF this, when food was
shifted very little from the place near the nest
they would wander about, takin1 tho most cir
cuitous mud ,nuxy routes, and were from few
minutes to half m hour discovering tho direct
road frum the food to tho ncst.
Slavery Is positive Institution H. certain
gcncra Of ants. The AmAzon ants (Lo'vergua
rmjesttrs) absolutely require slave nsslstnnt 70
clean, tlrrka, and feed them. They will rather
1nrlah of hunger thnn feed themselves, although
fUol be rfose nt hand. Blr John iiuds that eosuo
new pIptera Of the genus EhorLLs ase parasitic
on EnClBh ants. A curious bllnu woDtl.0uso
{{9atvartus iognaanaeyA} Is SLOWED houso-ruom
"a q kind OF scaycnger, but very little uotlcc Is
takcn Ut 1t.
Er+ShNn lttVHnS