PDF - Wallace Online
PDF - Wallace Online PDF - Wallace Online
342 TROPICAL NATUREIt is true that brilliant tropical birds mostly belong togroups which are wholly tropical as the chatterers, toucans,trogons, and pittas ;but as there are perhaps an equal numberof tropical groups which are wholly dull-coloured, whileothers contain dull and bright-coloured species in nearly equalproportions, the evidence is by no means strong that tropicallight and heat have anything to do with the matter. Butthere are other groups in which the cold and temperate zonesproduce finer -coloured species than the tropics. Thus thearctic ducks and divers are handsomer than those of thetropical zone while the; king-duck of temperate America andthe mandarin-duck of North China are the most beautifullycoloured of the whole family. In the pheasant family wehave the gorgeous gold and silver pheasants in North Chinaand Mongolia, and the superb Impeyan pheasant in the temperateNorth-Western Himalayas, as against the peacock andfire -backed pheasants of tropical Asia. Then we have thecurious fact that most of the bright -coloured birds of thetropics are denizens of the forests, where they are shadedfrom the direct light of the sun, and that they abound nearthe equator, where cloudy skies are very prevalent ; while, onthe other hand, places where light and heat are at a maximumhave often dull -coloured birds. Such are the Saharaand other deserts, where almost all the living things aresand-coloured ;but the most curious case is that of the Galapagosislands, situated under the equator, and not far fromSouth America, where the most gorgeous colours abound, butwhich are yet characterised by prevailing dull and sombretints in birds, insects, and flowers, so that they reminded Mr.Darwin of the cold and barren plains of Patagonia ratherthan of any tropical country. Insects are wonderfullybrilliant in tropical countries generally, and any one lookingover a collection of South American or Malayan butterflieswould scout the idea of their being no more gaily -colouredthan the average of European species, and in this he wouldbe undoubtedly right. But on examination we should findthat all the more brilliantly-coloured groups were exclusivelytropical, and that where a genus has a wide range there islittle difference in coloration between the species of cold andwarm countries. Thus the European Vanessides, including
v COLOURS OF ANIMALS 343the beautiful "peacock," "Camberwell beauty," and "redadmiral" butterflies, are quite up to the average of tropicalcolour in the same group ;and the remark will equallyapply to the little " blues " and " coppers " ;while the alpine"apollo"butterflies have a delicate beauty that can hardlybe surpassed. In other insects, which are lessdirectlydependent on climate and vegetation, we find even greateranomalies. In the immense family of the Carabidae or predaceousground -beetles, the northern forms fully equal, ifthey do not surpass, all that the tropics can produce. Everywhere,too, in hot countries, there are thousands of obscurespecies of insects which, if they were all collected, would notimprobably bring down the average of colour to much aboutthe same level as that of temperate zones.But it is when we come to the vegetable world that thegreatest misconception on this subject prevails. In abundanceand variety of floral colour the tropics are almost universallybelieved to be pre-eminent, not only absolutely, butrelatively to the whole mass of vegetation and the totalnumber of species. Twelve years of observation among thevegetation of the eastern and western tropics has, however,convinced me that this notion is entirely erroneous, and that,in proportion to the whole number of species of plants, thosehaving gaily-coloured flowers are actually more abundant inthe temperate zones than between the tropics. This will befound to be not so extravagant an assertion as it may at firstappear, if we consider how many of the choicest adornmentsof our greenhouses and flower-shows are really temperate asopposed to tropical plants. The masses of colour produced byour rhododendrons, azaleas, and camellias, our pelargoniums,calceolarias, and cinerarias all strictly temperate plantscan certainly not be surpassed, ifthey can be equalled, by anyproductions of the tropics.It may be objected that most of the plants named arechoice cultivated varieties, far surpassing in colour the originalstock, while the tropical plants are mostly unvaried wildspecies.But this does not really much affect the question atissue. For our florists' gorgeous varieties have all been producedunder the influence of our cloudy skies, and with evena still further deficiency of light, owing to the necessity of
- Page 308 and 309: 292 TROPICAL NATUREtion of very lar
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- Page 316 and 317: TROPICAL NATUEEthologists, it will
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- Page 322 and 323: TROPICAL NATUREMAMMALIAMonkeysThe h
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- Page 374 and 375: 358 TROPICAL NATUREand Mr. Sorby ha
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v COLOURS OF ANIMALS 343the beautiful "peacock," "Camberwell beauty," and "redadmiral" butterflies, are quite up to the average of tropicalcolour in the same group ;and the remark will equallyapply to the little " blues " and " coppers " ;while the alpine"apollo"butterflies have a delicate beauty that can hardlybe surpassed. In other insects, which are lessdirectlydependent on climate and vegetation, we find even greateranomalies. In the immense family of the Carabidae or predaceousground -beetles, the northern forms fully equal, ifthey do not surpass, all that the tropics can produce. Everywhere,too, in hot countries, there are thousands of obscurespecies of insects which, if they were all collected, would notimprobably bring down the average of colour to much aboutthe same level as that of temperate zones.But it is when we come to the vegetable world that thegreatest misconception on this subject prevails. In abundanceand variety of floral colour the tropics are almost universallybelieved to be pre-eminent, not only absolutely, butrelatively to the whole mass of vegetation and the totalnumber of species. Twelve years of observation among thevegetation of the eastern and western tropics has, however,convinced me that this notion is entirely erroneous, and that,in proportion to the whole number of species of plants, thosehaving gaily-coloured flowers are actually more abundant inthe temperate zones than between the tropics. This will befound to be not so extravagant an assertion as it may at firstappear, if we consider how many of the choicest adornmentsof our greenhouses and flower-shows are really temperate asopposed to tropical plants. The masses of colour produced byour rhododendrons, azaleas, and camellias, our pelargoniums,calceolarias, and cinerarias all strictly temperate plantscan certainly not be surpassed, ifthey can be equalled, by anyproductions of the tropics.It may be objected that most of the plants named arechoice cultivated varieties, far surpassing in colour the originalstock, while the tropical plants are mostly unvaried wildspecies.But this does not really much affect the question atissue. For our florists' gorgeous varieties have all been producedunder the influence of our cloudy skies, and with evena still further deficiency of light, owing to the necessity of
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