Of course it cannot be said that these raphides protect against all
other enemies. They are effective against rodents and ruminants,
and also against locusts, but a number of caterpillars seek out by
preference just those plants which contain raphides. Thus certain
caterpillars of the Sphingidæ feed on species of _Galium_ and
_Epilobium_, the leaves of the vine, and the wild balsam (_Impatiens_).
The caterpillar of _Chærocampa elpenor_, which especially prefers
_Vitis_ and _Epilobium_, has transferred its affections to the fuchsias
in our gardens, which came from South America; the butterfly not
infrequently lays its eggs on these plants, and the caterpillars devour
them readily; but the fuchsias may also contain raphides.
We may say, indeed, that almost all wild Phanerogams are protected in
some degree against snails, and this almost suggests the question: What
then is left for the snails to feed on if everything is thus armed
against them? But, in the first place, there remain our cultivated
plants, which, like the garden lettuce (_Lactuca_), are quite without
defence; and secondly, the snails often eat the plants only after
they have been rooted up and lie rotting on the ground, that is,
when the protective ingredient has been dissolved out by the rain;
finally, no means of protection, as I have often said already, is
absolute or effective against all snails. Many of these are, as Stahl
calls them, 'specialists.' Thus, the large slug of our woods eats the
poisonous fungi which are rejected by other snails, and in the same
way there are many other specialists which, however, are not likely to
eliminate unaided the plants to which they have adapted themselves.
There are certainly also omnivorous forms, like the field-slug
(_Limax agrestis_), to which we have referred so often, and _Arion
empiricorum_, the red slug, but just because these eat so many kinds of
plant they are less dangerous to any one species.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account