and are adorned with a broad band of rich orange on a deep-bluish ground. The under side is very variable in color, so that out of fifty specimens no two can be found exactly alike; but every one of them will be some shade of ash, or brown, or ochre, such as are found among dead, dry, or decaying leaves. The apex of the upper wings is produced into an acute point, a very common form in the leaves of tropical shrubs and trees, and the lower wings are also produced into a
Fig. 5. Leaf-Butterfly (Kallima paralekta).
short, narrow tail. Between these two points runs a dark curved line exactly representing the midrib of a leaf, and from this radiate on each side a few oblique lines, which serve to indicate the lateral veins of a leaf. . . . But this resemblance, close as it is, would be of little use if the habits of the insect did not accord with it. If the butterfly sat upon leaves or upon flowers, or opened its wings so as to expose the upper surface, or exposed and moved its head and antennae as many butterflies do, its disguise would be of little avail. We might be sure,
