United States or Senegal ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Bees announce their presence by a noisy humming. The beetles of the genus Calopteron have their wing-cases curiously distended, and move them up and down, so as to attract attention; and other species of Lampyridae are phosphorescent, holding out danger signals that they are not eatable. The reason in all these cases appears to be the same as Mr.
Lamarck, on the origin of man. Lamellibranchiata. Lamellicorn beetles, horn-like processes from the head and thorax of; influence of sexual selection on. Lamellicornia, stridulation of. Lamont, Mr., on the tusks of the walrus; on the use of its tusks by the walrus; on the bladder-nose seal. Lampornis porphyrurus, colours of the female. Lampyridae, distasteful to mammals. Lancelet.
The phosphorescent species of Lampyridae, the fireflies, so numerous in tropical America, are equally distasteful, and are also much mimicked by other insects. I found different species of cockroaches so much like them in shape and colour that they could not be distinguished without examination.
Bates' view, hereafter to be explained, that many insects mimic the Lampyridae closely, in order to be mistaken for them, and thus to escape destruction. He further believes that the luminous species profit by being at once recognised as unpalatable. It is probable that the same explanation may be extended to the Elaters, both sexes of which are highly luminous.
Another spider that frequented flowers seemed to be fond of them, and I have already mentioned a wasp that caught them to store its nest with. Amongst the beetles there is a family that is just as much mimicked as the Heliconii are amongst the butterflies. These are the Lampyridae, to which the fireflies belong.
Word Of The Day