[112] Nature, vol. xxxiv. p. 547.
[113] Proceedings of the Zool. Soc. of London, 1870, p. 369.
[114] The Naturalist in Nicaragua, p. 321.
[115] Mr. Belt first suggested this use of the light of the Lampyridae (fireflies and glow-worms)—Naturalist in Nicaragua, p. 320. Mr. Verrill and Professor Meldola made the same suggestion in the case of medusae and other phosphorescent marine organisms (Nature, vol. xxx. pp. 281, 289).
[116] W.E. Armit, in Nature, vol. xviii. p. 642.
[117] Proc. Ent. Soc., 1869, p. xiii.
CHAPTER X
COLOURS AND ORNAMENTS CHARACTERISTIC OF SEX
Sex colours in the mollusca and crustacea—In insects—In butterflies and moths—Probable causes of these colours—Sexual selection as a supposed cause—Sexual coloration of birds—Cause of dull colours of female birds—Relation of sex colour to nesting habits—Sexual colours of other vertebrates—Sexual selection by the struggles of males—Sexual characters due to natural selection—Decorative plumage of males and its effect on the females—Display of decorative plumage by the males—A theory of animal coloration—The origin of accessory plumes—Development of accessory plumes and their display—The effect of female preference will be neutralised by natural selection—General laws of animal coloration—Concluding remarks.