The Coloration, and other Forms of Ornament in Beetles, and the Significance thereof in regard to the Sexual Selection Theory—The Courtship of Grasshoppers and their Kin—The Remarkable Ears of Locusts and Grasshoppers—The Field-cricket and the Katydid as Troubadours—The Wonderful Performances of the Cicadas—The Duels of Long-horned Locusts—Dragon-flies—The May-flies’ “Dance of Death”—The Jaws of the Giant Alder-fly and their Strange Use—Some Curious Facts about Stone-flies. In these pages it is contended that neither brilliant coloration nor any other form of ornamentation is to be ascribed to the direct action of “Sexual Selection.” That is to say, such conspicuous features have not been dependent on the action of female choice for their survival and development, but are rather the “expression points” of the internal, inherent growth variations, which, not being inimical to the welfare of the species, have been free to pursue their development in any direction which apparent chance may dictate. The Butterflies and Moths well illustrate this in regard to coloration, for scent, not colour, would seem to be their principal source of information as to the outer world. The Beetles are no less instructive; for these creatures, though they contain numerous highly-coloured and some exquisitely beautiful species, are more remarkable for their bizarre shapes, and it seems impossible to regard these as the products of sexual selection. Yet this is the interpretation of their origin which, in the judgment of Darwin, we must adopt. He evidently had misgivings as to the correctness of this view; but it must be remembered that in reviewing the facts relating to these lower orders of Creation he was biased by the evidence which he had brought together in regard to the behaviour of the higher groups under the stimulus of sexual emotion. Convinced that female choice obtained here, he was but following the logical result of such conclusions in postulating the same factor wherever it could conceivably be applied. The most formidable critic of the Darwinian theory of Sexual Selection was Darwin himself. The dominant ambition in all his work was to explain his facts, not to establish his theory; and he was convinced that his theory of Sexual Selection did achieve that end; though there were cases where the evidence he was analysing seemed less clear than in others. That the Beetles presented difficulties is evident from his comments thereon. He was puzzled by the vivid coloration which some species present. “They may serve,” he remarks, “as a warning or means of recognition ... as with Beetles the colours of the two sexes are generally alike, we have no evidence that they have been gained through sexual selection; but this is at least possible, for they may have been developed in one sex and then transferred to the other; and this view is even in some degree probable in those groups which possess other well-marked secondary sexual characters....