The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-09
CURIOUS INSECT MIMlCS.
Marvellous Transformation Both in
Their Form and Color.
From the Pittsburg Dispatch.


the air with peculiar motion a green leaf.
1t zigzagged from side to side. and finally
landed in a bush near at hand. Wonder
ing merely why such leaf should fall
from a spruce tree, ! would have passed
on had not my dog. with more procession
stopped and nosed the leaf, telling me af
ter his fashion, to look.
This I did, and found this green OBJ
ject which had come scurrying down was
not a leaf al all, but a green katydid with
gauZe-like wings, protected by covers that
were so exact in their imitation Of other
leaves in general that any one would have
been deceived.
The insect was a natural mimic, and
even its flight downward from the tree
was a protective one, calculated to de-
ceive any feathered enemy that might
have been in the vicinity. This phase of
animal life, the feature of protective re-
semblance, is one well calculated to at
tract our attention and cause unceasing
wonderment. Nature has wisely endowed
certain defenseless animals with a GER
tain protective resemblance; made them
mimics of their surroundings. so that they
may avoid their enemies; and the extent
to which this is carried among certain
animals, especially insects, makes the
study one of absorbing interest.
In all life there is a certain adoption
" us BtIulldI SURROUNDINGS NIdilN -AlhNNA
birds are not, as a rule, found on white,
sandy wastes, but in forests, where there
is deep coloring and the contrast is not
great. The tawny lion, the giraffe. the
ostrich, are forms which assimilate their
surroundings. In California the horned
toad is almost as invisible as the sand in
which he lives. little canon toad mimcs
the rocks on which it rests, in color, while
the frogs of the east are hardly distin-
guishable from the green reeds among
which they hide
This peculiar method Of defense is partic-
ularly marked among insects. Some years
ago a travelling fakir stopped at bunga-
low in India and offered for a small sum
to show the guests of the sahib, who were
new in India, a miracle. Told to go ahead,
he produced a small tree with leaves
about three inches long which he thrust
into the ground, then took from a large
box carried by an attendant a dozen but
terflies of great beauty. After the guests
had examined them and assured them
selves that the insects were alive the fakir
tossed them one by one into the air. Each
alighted on the tree and became invisible
When all had disappeared the fakir asked
the sahib to look for them. The English
man examined the tree carefully, but
failed to find the dozen butterflies, each
of which was four inches across.
They had all heard of the Indian hyp-
notism, and thought that this possibly was
an instance in hand, but the laughing
| fakir caught up the tree and giving it a
shake, the insects hoated in the air for
a moment, and then gathered about the
tree again to mysteriously disappear.
The fakir then pointed out the illusion.
The butterflies were not a foot from their
eyes, and so mimicked the leaves when
their wings were folded that the deception
was perfect, both in color and shape
There were even the delicate mold spots,
the central or midrib of the leaf and the
delicate lateral branches from il, while
the stem of the leaf was closely initiated
by the lower portion of the wings, which
were pressed against the stem.
The same protection is seen in many of
our common butterflies that mimic flow
ers or leaves. Remarkable resemblances
are noticed among the moths some MINI
licking bits of wood or stone, so that when
they alight they become at once invisible,
and thus escape from any possible pur-
suer.
Some interesting instances of nimicry
are found in India A naturalist noted a
butterfly here that was not only remark
able mimic, but when followed it initiated
the peculiar flight of a poisonous butter
fly that was obnoxious to the birds.
In almost every group of insects we
find this protective resemblance, and those
among the walking sticks and walking
leaves are the most wonderful. In the lat
ter we have an example of an insect so
exactly resembling a green leaf that it
would bear close examination without
discovery The insect looks as though it
might have been made up from several
pieces of leaves. They are of vivid green
with delicate leaves, exactly as one finds
in leaf
While the Phyllium resembles a leaf, the
Phasmidae Is a mimic of a twig or branch.
The long straight body is perfect stick,
the legs resembling twigs branching from
it, and when walking they move in so de-
liberate manner, that even then the il
fusion is not destroyed. A South American
walking stick is a veritable giant, almost
a foot in length. These are green, resemb-
ling young shoots, and are found among
green Verdure; but one observed by Bolt,
the English naturalist, was a perfect
mimic of a dead twig, and had upon its
sides and legs curious excrescences that
mimicked fungus growths so that the bird
who had seen it moving would consider it
nothing but a dried twig.
One species has been known to seize and
eat small birds, who think it bit of the
branch, so fall into its clutches. Perhaps
the most remarkable mimic among these
insects is pink mantis of India, that is
almost exact in its resemblance to an or
child. The object here is evidently to cap
ture insects that light on ii by mistake.
Many insects protect their eggs or young
by unconscious mimicry. This is true of
the egg cases of many insects. Those of
the mantis resemble in tint the immedi-
ate objects; while South American moth,
in the caterpillar form, makes a lattice
work cocoon that resembles seed.
Many Of the spiders are mimics. In my
garden l had yellow spiders that lived in
the flowers of yellow nasturtiums; green
ones that offered little contrast to the rose
bush upon which they lay in wait for the
helpless aphidae
The most extraordinary attempt at de-
tense it was ever my good fortune to OBJ
serve on the part of a spider. was one
in which the insect not only disguished;
but rendered itself completely insensible.
1 was wandering through the bog cedar
bush of one of the Florida Keys, sixty
miles from Cuba, when / came UPON a
huge web that completely barred the way;
the long cables extended as braces in
every direction, while in the center poised
q big yellow spider.
The moment it caught sight of me it be-
gan to swing in the web, first slowly, then
more rapidly, until in a short time the
spider had disappeared from view, al
though not foot from my eyes; il was
simply vibrating its web, but so rapidly
that my eyes could not follow it. In a
few moments the motion gradually ceased