This is effected
by the butterfly always settling on a twig, with the short tail of the
hind wings just touching it and forming the leaf-stalk. From this a dark
curved line runs across to the elongated tip of the upper wings,
imitating the midrib, on both sides of which are oblique lines, formed
partly by the nervures and partly by markings, which give the effect of
the usual veining of a leaf. The head and antennae fit exactly between
the closed upper wings so as not to interfere with the outline, which
has just that amount of irregular curvature that is seen in dry and
withered leaves. The colour is very remarkable for its extreme amount of
variability, from deep reddish-brown to olive or pale yellow, hardly two
specimens being exactly alike, but all coming within the range of colour
of leaves in various stages of decay. Still more curious is the fact
that the paler wings, which imitate leaves most decayed, are usually
covered with small black dots, often gathered into circular groups, and
so exactly resembling the minute fungi on decaying leaves that it is
hard at first to believe that the insects themselves are not attacked by
some such fungus.
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