The third scheme of marking, namely by spots, occurs in various forms
in species of the genera _Deilephila_ and _Chærocampa_, and it varies
in its biological significance; in many species the spots serve as a
warning colour, by making the caterpillar conspicuous and easily seen
from a distance (_Deilephila galii_, Fig. 117); in others they imitate
the eyes of a larger animal, and have a 'terrifying' effect, as we have
already said (Fig. 4); in still other and rarer cases they heighten the
resemblance of the caterpillar to its food-plant by mimicking parts of
it, as, for instance, the red berries of the buckthorn (_Deilephila
hippophaës_, Fig. 8, _r_).
[Illustration: FIG. 3 (repeated). Full-grown caterpillar of the Eyed
Hawk-moth, _Smerinthus ocellatus_. _sb_, the sub-dorsal stripe.]
Thus all three modes of marking possess a biological value, and
protect the soft and easily wounded animal in some way, and, in the
case of at least two of them, it is clear that they must have arisen
at the very end of the caterpillar's development, since they can only
be effective as the animal is approaching full size, and would be
valueless in the very young caterpillar. The transverse striping only
makes the caterpillar like a leaf when the stripes bear about the same
relation to each other as those on the leaf, and eye-spots can only
scare away lizards and birds when they are of a certain size. Only
longitudinal striping is effective as a protection in the case of young
caterpillars, supposing, that is, that they live in or on the grass
(Fig. 116).
[Illustration: FIG. 4 (repeated). Full-grown caterpillar of the
Elephant Hawk-moth, _Chærocampa elpenor_, in its 'terrifying attitude.']
[Illustration: FIG. 8 (repeated). Caterpillars of the Buckthorn
Hawk-moth, _Deilephila hippophaës_. _A_, Stage III. _B_, Stage V. _r_,
annular spots.]
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