The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Vol. IDarwin, Charles
Science
The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Vol. I
Darwin, Charles
Evolution (Biology); Human beings -- Origin; Sex differences; Sexual dimorphism (Animals); Sexual selection in animals
Order, _Thysanura_.—The members of this Order are lowly organised for
their class. They are wingless, dull-coloured, minute insects, with
ugly, almost misshapen heads and bodies. The sexes do not differ; but
they offer one interesting fact, by showing that the males pay sedulous
court to their females even low down in the animal scale. Sir J.
Lubbock[443] in describing the _Smynthurus luteus_, says: “it is very
amusing to see these little creatures coquetting together. The male,
which is much smaller than the female, runs round her, and they butt one
another, standing face to face, and moving backward and forward like two
playful lambs. Then the female pretends to run away and the male runs
after her with a queer appearance of anger, gets in front and stands
facing her again; then she turns coyly round, but he, quicker and more
active, scuttles round too, and seems to whip her with his antennæ; then
for a bit they stand face to face, play with their antennæ, and seem to
be all in all to one another.”
Order, _Diptera_ (Flies).—The sexes differ little in colour. The
greatest difference, known to Mr. F. Walker, is in the genus Bibio, in
which the males are blackish or quite black, and the females obscure
brownish-orange. The genus Elaphomyia, discovered by Mr. Wallace[444] in
New Guinea, is highly remarkable, as the males are furnished with horns,
of which the females are quite destitute. The horns spring from beneath
the eyes, and curiously resemble those of stags, being either branched
or palmated. They equal in length the whole of the body in one of the
species. They might be thought to serve for fighting, but as in one
species they are of a beautiful pink colour, edged with black, with a
pale central stripe, and as these insects have altogether a very elegant
appearance, it is perhaps more probable that the horns serve as
ornaments. That the males of some Diptera fight together is certain; for
Prof. Westwood[445] has several times seen this with some species of
Tipula or Harry-long-legs. Many observers believe that when gnats
(Culicidæ) dance in the air in a body, alternately rising and falling,
the males are courting the females. The mental faculties of the Diptera
are probably fairly well developed, for their nervous system is more
highly developed than in most other Orders of insects.[446]
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