Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-08-08
IMrosrors AMoNe ANIMAns.
Moths and Other Insects That Initial
! " ~. Their Enyirnnmnnt.

Moths and Other Insects That Initiate |
Their Environment.
William Morton Wheeler, professor Of
zoology In the, University of Texas, has
an illustrated article in the July |
Century. on the subject of ''Impostois
Among Animals. y
The Shaksperian conception Of the
human world us stage may be ex-
banded to include the animal world as
we'll. Like ourselves, animals enter on
the struggle for existence with modi-
cum of equipment IN figure, com
plexion. voice, and demeapor, and with
the assignment of o definite role to
play 10 the melodrama OF life. Hence,
we are not surprised to find that many
OF our four, six, and eight-footed com
petitors have, figurativeiy speaking,
attained to some proficiency in the art
of imposition while endeavoring to
gain fuothold in the world, !. O., the
opportunity of feeding, mating, and
leaving the offspring to repeat the same
performance continuously.
1t must have peen sone such reheo
tion as this which led Henry Drum
mond to remark that Carlyle in his
BLACKLIST visions OF 'shams and hum
bugs among humankind never saw
anything SO finished in hypocrisy as
the naturalist now finds in every tropi-
cal forest. There are TO be seen
creatures, not singly, hut in tens of
thousands, whose every appearance,
| down TO the minutest spot and wrinkle,
is an atfront to truth, whose every at.
titude is u pose for u purpose. and
| whose whole life Ia a sustained lie.
| Before these masterpieces Of deception
| tho most Ingenious. OF human impo-
| siiions are vulgar and transparent.
| Fraud is not only the great rule OF life
in tropical forest, but the one con-
dition of it. y
Drummond's statements are perhars
a little misleading without some quail
| tication, for animals are not imposters
in the ordinary sense OF the term, since
they are OF course, perfectly unaware
of appearing under deceptive dis
guise. Moreover, what is true oil ami
NAL life In the troric is also, in great
| measure, true OF animal life in other
regions Of the globe.
| In the development of deceptive dis
guises-disguises which eject the form,
attitude, and color, but largely the
color, OF animals nature appears to
have proceeded along two different
paths. one Of which is direct and re.
iatively easy, the other oircuitous and
much more difficult. The easy path
| which may be 90 nsidered first, Is tina
Of protective resemblance pure and
simple, /. O., an approach in the
MAMMALS form, color aud attitude to
some object in the surroundings. Such
| an approximation can hardly fail to
be of the greatest advantage, since the
animal thereby merges SO completely
with its environment as to rass unob-
served by it's enemies or 10y its prey.
This alternative has led in two dires.
tIons, to defensive and an aggressive
form of resemblance.
Every sportsman. has been deceived
by the close resemblance of biIds and
other animals to the soil and vegeta-
ton. 1t would be easy, moreover. to
show that many reptiles, frogs, and
fishes, and very many of the lower
animals, exhibit similar adaptations
1t is also we'll known that some Of
these creatures, like the chameleons,
many tree-frogs, cuttle.fshes and
shrimps, can actually change their
colors TO make them harmonize with
the exact tints of the vegetation or soil
on which they are living. But no
animal can, compare with the insects
and spiders 10, the detailed perfection
of their protective disguises, or in the
frequency of adopting this method OF
eluding enemies or of stealthily APP
preaching prey. This is true notwith
standing the fact that active color
changes like those of the chameleon
are scarcely known to occur among in
seots. .N
. Many of the most striking examples
OF protective resemblance among in
scots are the result of the very intimate
association OF these animals with the
flora of our planet. Especially is this
true of insects which live exposed or
the vegetation. There is really &c
portion of the plant excepting its roots
and fruits which is not copied by some
insect. often with the most astonishing
faithiulness to details. Hosts Of moths
copy the rough iiohen -mottled bark oil
trees: the walking sticks and looping
, caterpillars copy the twigs; the greer
leaves are initiated by the katy,
dds and the marvellous leaf inseots
. tPhylliuml of the East Indies, whilt
tho dead leaves are portrayed by man,
|, hioths and butterflies, form of re
semblance eliminating in the famous
, Kallima butterflies of southern Asia.
! Striking resemblances TO thorns anC
|, knots are to DO found among SPIDER
! aud leaf-hoppers tMembracidel while
even the flowers may be copied, as IL
the case Of the PINK, orchid like manti
tHymenopusi Of India, aud severa
other species. The roots of plants ar,
not copied because they are not exposed
!, to view, and an attempt to resemble tn
= exposed sevd or fruit would be only al
: invitation to birds to destroy an.
: species that might be SO bold as {,
: vary in this direction.