The whole insect
is of a bright pink colour, the large and oval abdomen looking like the
labellum of an orchid. On each side, the two posterior legs have
immensely dilated and flattened thighs which represent the petals of a
flower, while the neck and forelegs imitate the upper sepal and column
of an orchid. The insect rests motionless, in this symmetrical attitude,
among bright green foliage, being of course very conspicuous, but so
exactly resembling a flower that butterflies and other insects settle
upon it and are instantly captured. It is a living trap, baited in the
most alluring manner to catch the unwary flower-haunting insects.[80]
_The Coloration of Birds' Eggs._
The colours of birds' eggs have long been a difficulty on the theory of
adaptive coloration, because, in so many cases it has not been easy to
see what can be the use of the particular colours, which are often so
bright and conspicuous that they seem intended to attract attention
rather than to be concealed. A more careful consideration of the subject
in all its bearings shows, however, that here too, in a great number of
cases, we have examples of protective coloration.
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