uring
of the under side of our peacock, tortoiseshell, and red-admiral
butterflies answers a similar purpose.

Two curious South American butterflies that always settle on the trunks
of trees (Gynecia dirce and Callizona acesta) have the under surface
curiously striped and mottled, and when viewed obliquely must closely
assimilate with the appearance of the furrowed bark of many kinds of
trees. But the most wonderful and undoubted case of protective
resemblance in a butterfly which I have ever seen, is that of the
common Indian Kallima inachis, and its Malayan ally, Kallima paralekta.
The upper surface of these insects is very striking and showy, as they
are of a large size, and are adorned with a broad band of rich orange on
a deep bluish ground. The under side is very variable in colour, so that
out of fifty specimens no two can be found exactly alike, but every one
of them will be of some shade of ash or brown or ochre, such as are
found among dead, dry or decaying leaves. The apex of the upper wings is
produced into an acute point, a very common form in the leaves of
tropical shrubs and trees, and the lower wings are also produced into a
short, narrow tail. Between these two points runs a dark curved line
exactly representing the midrib of a leaf, and from this radiate on each
side a few oblique lines, which serve to indicate the lateral veins of a
leaf. These marks are more clearly seen on the outer portion of the base
of the wings, and on the inner side towards the middle and apex, and it
is very curious to observe how the usual marginal and transverse striae
of the group are here modified and strengthened so as to become adapted
for an imitation of the venation of a leaf. We come now to a still more
extraordinary part of the imitation, for we find representations of
leaves in every stage of decay, variously blotched and mildewed and
pierced with powdery black dots gathered into patches and spots, so
closely resembling the various kinds of minute fungi that grow on dead
leaves that is it impossible to avoid thinking at first sight that the
butterflies themselves have been attacked by real fungi.

But this resemblance, close as it is, would be little use if the habits
of the insect did not accord with it. If the butterfly sat upon leaves
or upon flowers, or opened its wings so as to expose the upper surface,
or exposed and moved its head and antennae as many other butterflies do,
its disguise would be of little av