Mr. H.H. Corbett read a paper on “Protective Mimicry as exhibited in British Lepidoptera”.

The lecturer introduced the subject by defining Protective Mimicry as “any form or colour possessed by an animal or plant which by resembling surrounding objects either inanimate or animate gives its possessor greater chances of avoiding observation by its foes”.

Examples are found both in the animal & vegetable worlds. Dealing specially with British Lepidoptera, examples were taken from all four stages of the insects life.

The eggs are mostly similar in colour to the objects upon which they are laid, some imitate other objects, the egg of the Puss Moth being laid on a Willow leaf & is like the galls of these leaves, In other cases the eggs are laid on & simulate the bark, etc.

Larvae Many are very like their surroundings. Most of those that feed exposed upon leaves are green, others which depart from the green colour of the leaves imitate the browns & greys of the branches & are in many cases provided with birch-like & thorn-like projections from their bodies. The Larvae of the genus Catocala are exactly like a branch of Ivy with the nodlets at the sides. Crataegus oxyacantha is just like a twig of the white thorn upon which it feeds.
Imitations of leaves were also noticed.

Pupae Nearly all subterranean pupae are black or brown & many are enclosed in a cocoon of silk & earth which renders them very inconspicuous; others are hidden in the crevice’s of the bark of trees & are protected by small cocoons made of chips of bark, rendering them almost impossible to detect.

Imago. Butterflies at rest have their wings closed with the inferior surface exposed; consequently, the protective colours are found on the lower side. Many moths on the other hand rest with the upper surface of the primaries exposed & it is here that we meet with protective colours in this case. Others have all the wings fully exposed when at rest & then the protective colours are seen in both pairs of wings.

The group of moths known as Clearwings imitate bees, wasps & other insects, their wings being transparent & the abdomen coloured. Other examples of mimicry were also mentioned.