PDF - Wallace Online
PDF - Wallace Online PDF - Wallace Online
TROPICAL NATUREwhole insect is then green or brown, and almost invisibleamong the twigs or foliage.To increase the resemblance tovegetation, some of these Phasmas have small green processesin various parts of their bodies looking exactly like moss.These inhabit damp forests both in the Malay islands and inAmerica, and they are so marvellously like moss-grown twigsthat the closest examination is needed to satisfy oneself thatit is really a living insect we are looking at.Many of the locusts are equally well-disguised, some resemblinggreen leaves, others those that are brown and dead ;and the latter often have small transparent spots on the wings,looking like holes eaten through them. That these disguisesdeceive their natural enemies is certain, for otherwise thePhasmidae would soon be exterminated. They are large andsluggish, and very soft and succulent ; they have no means ofdefence or of flight,and they are eagerly devoured by numbersof birds, especially by the numerous cuckoo tribe, whosestomachs are often full of th'em ; yet numbers of them escapedestruction, and this can only be due to their vegetabledisguises. Mr. Belt records a curious instance of the actualoperation of this kind of defence in a leaf -like locust, whichremained perfectly quiescent in the midst of a host of insectivorousants, which ran over it without finding out that it was aninsect and not a leaf It !might have flown away from them,but it would then instantly have fallen a prey to the numerousbirds which always accompany these roaming hordes of antsto feed upon the insects that endeavour to escape. Far moreconspicuous than any of these imitative species are the largelocusts, with rich crimson or blue -and -black spotted wings.Some of these are nearly a foot in expanse of wings ; theyfly by day, and their strong spiny legs probably serve as aprotection against all the smaller birds. They cannot besaid to be common ;but when met with they fully satisfy ournotions as to the large size and gorgeous colours of tropicalinsects. 1BeetlesConsidering the enormous numbers and endless varietyof the beetle tribe that are known to inhabit the tropics, they1It has now been ascertained that these conspicuously coloured locusts areprotected by inedibility. See Darwinism, p. 267.
in ANIMAL LIFE IN THE TROPICAL FORESTS 289form by no means so prominent a feature in the animal lifeof the equatorial zone as we might expect. Almost everyentomologist is at first disappointed with them. He finds thatthey have to be searched for almost as much as at home,while those of large size (except one or two very commonspecies) are rarely met with. The groups which most attractattention, from their size and beauty, are the Buprestidse andthe Longicorns. The former are usually smooth insects of anelongate ovate form, with very short legs and antennae, andadorned with the most glowing metallic tints.They aboundon fallen tree-trunks and on foliage, in the hottest sunshine,and are among the most brilliant ornaments of the tropicalforests. Some parts of the temperate zone, especially Australiaand Chili, abound in Buprestidse which are equallybeautiful ;but the largest species are only found within thetropics, those of the Malay islands being the largest of all.The Longicorns are elegantly shaped beetles, usually withlong antennas and legs, varied in form and structure in anendless variety of ways, and adorned with equally variedcolours, spots, and markings. Some are large and massiveinsects three or four inches long, while others are no biggerthan our smaller ants. The majority have sober colours, butoften delicately marbled, veined, or spotted ;while others arered, or blue, or yellow, or adorned with the richest metallictints. Their antennae are sometimes excessively long andgraceful, often adorned with tufts of hair, and sometimespectinated. They especially abound where timber trees havebeen recently felled in the primeval forests ;and while extensiveclearings are in progress their variety seems endless.In such a localityin the island of Borneo, nearly 300 differentspecies were found during one dry season, while the numberobtained during eight years' collecting in the whole MalayArchipelago was about a thousand species.Among the beetles that always attract attention in the tropicsare the large, horned Copridse and Dynastidse, correspondingto our dung-beetles. Some of these are of great size, andthey are occasionally very abundant. The immense horn -likeprotuberances on the head and thorax of the males in some ofthe species are very extraordinary, and, combined with theirpolished or rugose metallic colours, render them perhaps theu
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TROPICAL NATUREwhole insect is then green or brown, and almost invisibleamong the twigs or foliage.To increase the resemblance tovegetation, some of these Phasmas have small green processesin various parts of their bodies looking exactly like moss.These inhabit damp forests both in the Malay islands and inAmerica, and they are so marvellously like moss-grown twigsthat the closest examination is needed to satisfy oneself thatit is really a living insect we are looking at.Many of the locusts are equally well-disguised, some resemblinggreen leaves, others those that are brown and dead ;and the latter often have small transparent spots on the wings,looking like holes eaten through them. That these disguisesdeceive their natural enemies is certain, for otherwise thePhasmidae would soon be exterminated. They are large andsluggish, and very soft and succulent ; they have no means ofdefence or of flight,and they are eagerly devoured by numbersof birds, especially by the numerous cuckoo tribe, whosestomachs are often full of th'em ; yet numbers of them escapedestruction, and this can only be due to their vegetabledisguises. Mr. Belt records a curious instance of the actualoperation of this kind of defence in a leaf -like locust, whichremained perfectly quiescent in the midst of a host of insectivorousants, which ran over it without finding out that it was aninsect and not a leaf It !might have flown away from them,but it would then instantly have fallen a prey to the numerousbirds which always accompany these roaming hordes of antsto feed upon the insects that endeavour to escape. Far moreconspicuous than any of these imitative species are the largelocusts, with rich crimson or blue -and -black spotted wings.Some of these are nearly a foot in expanse of wings ; theyfly by day, and their strong spiny legs probably serve as aprotection against all the smaller birds. They cannot besaid to be common ;but when met with they fully satisfy ournotions as to the large size and gorgeous colours of tropicalinsects. 1BeetlesConsidering the enormous numbers and endless varietyof the beetle tribe that are known to inhabit the tropics, they1It has now been ascertained that these conspicuously coloured locusts areprotected by inedibility. See Darwinism, p. 267.
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