Thus specimens from Senegambia were dull brown, the soil
being reddish sand and iron-clay; those from Calabar and Cameroons were
light brown with numerous small white spots, the soil of those countries
being light brown clay with small quartz pebbles; while in other
localities where the colours of the soil were more varied the colours of
the butterfly varied also. Here we have variation in a single species
which has become specialised in certain areas to harmonise with the
colour of the soil.[74]
Many butterflies, in all parts of the world, resemble dead leaves on
their under side, but those in which this form of protection is carried
to the greatest perfection are the species of the Eastern genus Kallima.
In India K. inachis, and in the larger Malay islands K. paralekta, are
very common. They are rather large and showy butterflies, orange and
bluish on the upper side, with a very rapid flight, and frequenting dry
forests. Their habit is to settle always where there is some dead or
decaying foliage, and the shape and colour of the wings (on the under
surface), together with the attitude of the insect, is such as to
produce an absolutely perfect imitation of a dead leaf.
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