Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-01-16

Natura1ist's Experiments IA
0o0ehorn California.


Bsashssn CallSsrasa.
SNAKES THAT SIMULATE vINEs-LIEARDs
THAT THROW THEIR rArrs AwAY-DRcRrr>
sourHE1N cALrroRsrA-ouHkR STORIES OF
ANIMAL LIFE.
From the Cen Francisoo Cali
southern California Is o hne country In
which to study the local fauna. There IL %
much pleasant weather that one can put In .
good deal OF field work" The speaker was en-
eastern naturalist, who has some months since
come nom the east and taken up his tenn
posary residence In Q mountain resort In Los
Angeles county, for the purpose of observing
the animals and their habits. He had Just ar
rived In this city called hithsr by some bust.
ness engagement"
new, continued the speaker, in reply 10
Question BY . Cdu reporter az do not expect
NAV sS1%R me 70 my Sdsn
terest" w" 1'e'A'A~ VI '
Alier brisk walk Of few blocks the tempo
He said: my attention, Just now. is directed to
'as ss4oa: q protection and defense and
You don't mean that animals mimic one
animals on this branch" and he natara list
took nom the mantel and handed to the re-
porter Q branch OF alder. It was examined, a.
s,,,,s Ipposeo, carefully, but no living creature
.Thst demonstrates the perfection of mi.
one Of the leaves that immedistely walked Oh
.This insect" be continued, shat you could
not distinguish from q leaf, finds its protection
In mimicking leaves. You see how exactly its
wings mimic them In color, veining and In
canes H e And not only this; when
with the same motion as a leaf, and II my dog
i nsss pssssd e4a Sy is very common and
What is there heree" inquired the reporter,
leaning over box Of plants and vines that stood
SNAKE THAT xrMrcs VINES
ION the vine IL q green snake that mimics
vines. I brought 1t from the east, and on the
stems you will see q number OF green spiders
that anect green plants. All snakes find pro-
lection more or less in their mutation of other
are all alternating now, they SO Initiate the
barren rocks among which they live that IL Is
almost impossible 10 distinguish them. unless
YOU see the outline or the form. In the tropics
you see large boas anu pythons hanging from q
tree, and from o distance they are perfect
teristic features of the country.
here Is case," continued the speaker,
taking the top from a large glass box, the bot
som OF which was filled with sand. do you see
The writer looked steadily, at long and short
range. and was finally obliged to confess that
sand was the only object discernable.
The naturalist then introdu ced pointer and
Immediately y lizard. three inches long broad
ure with rapid uncertain " NOTION Inc s shs
horned toad, really a lizard" explained the
owner, laughing, land is a remarkable mimic,
the valleys never could see them except when
they started up, and when they stopped 1t was
70 disappear. SO complete was their identity
tost You see this il the protection Of nature
that all animals possess outside OF their special
organs Of defense. It is phase In the evolu-
their environments. There is nothing startiinS
IN nature; the forms OF animals all blend with
their surroundings. This creature mirnics the
woods, especially OF the south, and we find
myriads OF forms that initiate the leaves and
t sg Green lizards lie before our eyes and
oeIy u.s. the tree toads crouched on the leaves
are invisible; the bullfrogs In the sages by the
Sank OF the pond are rendered moons picuous
ia. 1ns an rcn green coat then turn to the toad
tracts OF land. and we see ii dIst-colored or
notified, finding in this a sure protection
SOME QUEER LIZARDS.
"But to return to the lizards. There are
some curious cases among the geckos. Here is
one, dead, that II called the leaf-tailed gecko
You see the tail buiges out soon after leaving
the BODY, and assumes a leaf or arrow shape;
hence the name of the animal. Now, when the
around limb and hold up the Gu curious Leaf.
like tail. That is all that you can see, and so,
naturally, would think 1t q part or the tree
method Of escape yet We Will imagine that
you have tried 70 pluck the leaf The animal
darts ciumsily to the ground and darts away
among the rocks, where 1t attracts the atten-
ton OF some OF the hawks that are forever
prowling around. Immediately a chase en-.
ses o1q and Is finally about 70
ards appear, one making off, while the other
dances up and down into the air and along the
astonished bird stops and looks. In the mean.
time the original lizard escapes; the other that
is really the TAIL soon becomes quiescent. You
tail when hard pressed. and when the pur-
suer's attention Is drawn to the sQuirming
member the animal itself escapes"
But IL loses its TAIL" suggested the reporter
"Only for q time. They can reproduce this
organ, and, curiously enough, sometimes two
tails are produced instead of one There is Q
some protection. In another class Of lizards
as the anolis aud chameleon, the color changes
any location in which they may nnd them.
selves.
INSECTS PROTECTED By STIMULATION.
"n," continued the naturalist, "we look
among insects, We find Q remarkable display
Of mimics Perhaps you have noticed In the
have not noticed them. They have been pro-
tected by their stimulation to the leaves and
flowers, and the birds that prey upon them are
equally deceived. In the southern part of this
state wonderful examples are seen in the walk
ingsticks and the mantis. The former seem 10
be actual twfgs, endowed with life; the body Is
straight. seeming twig, while the legs are like
branches from Ii, and with its slow, methodical
movements 1t would hardly be considered
living creature. Some OF these in South Amer.
lea attain q length OF eight inches. An allied
form, In central America, found by Belt, the
naturalist, % mimicked q moss-covered twig
zled the observer. The leaf insects are particu-
larry interesting, as they are almost exact in
their resemblance to dead and living leaves;
SO much SO that they even deceive the foraging
ants that rush over them, not suspccting that
In the fallen leaf Is the willy mimic they would
fain capture. Among the plume moths are
many OF such delicacy that they resemble the
down OF plants In their night through the air,
and when aiightine on a flower their animal
Zone OF the most beautiful cases OF protective
mimicry Is that Of the orange-tip butterfly.
When open 1t Is very plainly seen its wings
being OF white, black and orange, and flying
about, is quite conspicuous, but as soon as It
wings, IL becomes at once an exact mimic OF the
white blotches Of the under surface.
BUTTERFLIES vKRsED IN DECEIT.
"These animals" continued the speaker you
zee, generally mimic plants or twigs, but there
are others that are more remarkable nom the
fAct that they mimic animals that from their
poisonous qualities are safe from attack. Thus
Il is we'll known that birds do not especially
care for hairy BUTTERFLIES, 60 In Central America.
for the birds, clothed ia Q coat Of long brown
hairs closely resembling the thick, hairy cater
pillars In the same localities spiders have
been found that looked exactly like ants, and
were thus enabled to creep upon their prey, the
though an acceptable morsel to the birds, de-
coiyed them by mimickinE the flight Of poi
sonous butterfly. 1t bird chased u 1t at once