It may, however, be remarked that not all the caterpillars exhibit
protective resemblance; and it may be asked--How have some of these
conspicuous larvæ, that of the magpie moth, for example, escaped
elimination? What is sauce for the Lulworth goose should be sauce for
the magpie gander. How is it that these gaudy and variable caterpillars,
cream-coloured with orange and black markings, have escaped speedy
destruction? Because they are so nasty. No bird, or lizard, or frog, or
spider would touch them. They can therefore afford to be
bright-coloured. Nay, their very gaudiness is an advantage, and saves
them from being the subject of unpleasant experiments in the matter.
Other caterpillars, like the palmer-worms, are protected by barbed hairs
that are intensely irritating. They, too, can afford to be conspicuous.
But a sweet and edible caterpillar, if conspicuous, is eaten, and thus
by the elimination of the conspicuous the numerous dull green or brown
larvæ have survived.
A walk through the Bird Gallery in the National collection will afford
examples of protective resemblance among birds. Look, for example, at
the Kentish plover with its eggs and young--faithfully reproduced in our
frontispiece--and the way in which the creature is thus protected in
early stages of its life will be evident. The stone-curlew, the
ptarmigan, and other birds illustrate the same fact, which is also seen
with equal clearness in many mammals, the hare being a familiar example.
Many oceanic organisms are protected through general resemblance. Some,
like certain medusæ, are transparent. The pellucid or transparent sole
of the Pacific (_Achirus pellucidus_), a little fish about three inches
long, is so transparent that sand and seaweed can be seen distinctly
through its tissues. The salpa is transparent save for the intestine and
digestive gland, which are brown, and look like shreds of seaweed. Other
forms, like the physalia, are cærulean blue. The exposed parts of
flat-fish are brown and sandy coloured or speckled like the sea-bottom;
and in some the sand-grains seem to adhere to the skin. So, too, with
other fish. "Looking _down_ on the dark back of a fish," says Mr. A. R.
Wallace, "it is almost invisible, while to an enemy looking _up_ from
below, the light under surface would be equally invisible against the
light of clouds and sky." Even some of the most brilliant and gaudiest
fish, such as the coral-fish (_Chætodon, Platyglossus_, and others), are
brightly coloured in accordance with the beautiful tints of the
coral-reefs which form their habitat; the bright-green tints of some
tropical forest birds being of like import. No conception of the range
of protective resemblance can be formed when the creatures are seen or
figured isolated from their surroundings. The zebra is a sufficiently
conspicuous animal in a menagerie or a museum; and yet Mr. Galton
assures us that, in the bright starlight of an African night, you may
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