The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1902-06-02

How the Colors OF Flowers Attract In
scots and Birda

ahN eteAoilltnAs bul 10 Interpretation.
We are surrounded by natural things.
animate, and lnanimate. and each has q
purpose beyond the universal one OF
being beautiful. To the human under.
standing Is presented the fascinating
problem OF finding out what that pur-
pose Is. Brilliant minds. capable OF
original conceptions aud accurate in
vestigations, havs long been busy 70
that end; and now in many domains
light is dawning Meanwhile, as ever,
phrsseology lags behind discovery.
New truths are anonymous and only to
be described with roundabout verbal
clumsiness.
Thus Advertising in nature" is but q
make-shift nickname for a recently
realized. aud consequently unchristen-
ed principle. Flowers advertise. They
acquaint bees with the fact that honey
Is kept within But the philanthropy
OF the king is only on the surface
This advertisement is displayed In as
strict business spirit AS ia any manu-
tacturer's pritted notification concern
ing soap or pills Behind the who
proceeding is a concern that the be
should, though without intent OF
knowledge. put pollen to its appointed
use. The advertisements of the flowers
are sometimes as fatal as those Of the
turf tpser Little birds are attracted
to the asum nlys seed pod by the Sc
duction Of its scarlet coat, and Profess
sor Bottomley spoke by the book wnen
he characterized the business as floral
murder. The decayed body of the
ueacherodsiy poisoned bird makes just
the proper little heap of nutritive soil
for the termination of the seed. Then,
too, insects advertise. as Prof h. b.
Poulton, in the interesting lecture h
delivered at the Royal Instituticu
made abundantly manifest There are
countless little creatures upon this
earth who are concerned to pass them
selves of as aomething they are not in
order to escape the consequences of be-
ing what they are. The result is at
tained by advertisements, and lying
advertisements to boot. Take The
case OF certain humble bee. and OF a
certain still more humble hy. The
latter Is a veritable BeerbOhn Tree in
his capacity to assume the appearance
Z of the former. Art for arl sake dos
I not enter into the situation. The per
n formance of the ily originates in a CON
sidsration OF self-pre.srvation Pro
lessor POulton sawed that this
Z interested imitation does not
( stop even at copying the brown hairy
& coat The tooth some insect actually
K apes the antics Of the singing insect,
and notably in the manner of leg
action. Be 1t known that in the cool OF
the evening. II you so up to tease the
I particular bee, he as like as not will
disdaiu to ny away but will waggle a
pair OF legs at you In a menacing man
ner eloquent of anger. Under similar
provocation this little fly will do the
same, the better to convey the arron-
eous idea that he is a bee and armed
with sting. One fault In the imita-
eion Ia worthy to be noted The bee
does not use his front pair OF legs for
this alarming demonstration. The fly
does. and this circumstance is easy 10
account for. While all the logs OF
ny are equally useful for walking with.
the front pair have got In the way OF
performing little extra duties. We
have all seen flies washing their faces
with the front pair. which also have a
marked facility when outstretched for
rapidly curling and uncurling round
one another at the extremities-a per-
formance which is probably directed TO
some other end than the promotion OF
tbs circulation. Thus these forerunners
have, by reason Of their superior fex-
ibility, singled out for this part of the
strange business Of foollng birds and
other insect-eaters.
There are tasty beetles that pretend
TO be wasps. but plenty of nourishlne
flies that try and palm themselves on
as unsavory ants. There is even q
spider that assumes the appearance of
an ant At first sight II would seem
that the possession of eight legs would
be bar to the disguise, but the in
genuity of nature, working. through
the principle of selection, is capable OF
what one is tempted TO describe as
daring solutions OF difficult problems.
When occasion requires, up go the
front pair OF legs as counterfeit anten-
nae. Some of our readers will be
familiar with the quaint appearance OF
the caterpillar or the lobster moth
which 10 the ordinary eye Is two
thirds caterpillar and ons-third some
thing else. The bulky appsndage call
ed by pollteness a tail really seems, so
far as unity OF design Is concerned, 10
have no relation of what goes before.
And now note the explanation with
which distinguished Russian natural
inl mas SLdBBoIeu the nOlOBiCal WoTlu-
la fact patent to all observers Is that
the caterpillar of the lobster moth,
when menaced by danger. will swing
bis tail over onto his back. and hold up
his hngers straight and quivoring.
Why he should behave thus has long
been a mystery. for to the scientific
4 mind It never seemed sufficient ex-
PLANTATION that the creature perchance
aspired by his appalling contOrtiOn. 70
az the enemy's heart with paralyzing
terror The distinguished Russian
Dne day bethought Of him q strange
. Resemblance the caterpillar's tail bears
10 a certain plant that is repugnant 70
Insect eaters. When one comes 70
Think OF 1t, how simple this matter
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