Abstract
MR. MCKAY'S letter in NATURE of January 16 (p. 247) is of interest in pointing out that some butterflies are normally exposed in flight to danger from certain birds. Nevertheless, I believe this to be exceptional so far as this country is concerned. At the present moment I have in my possession a specimen of the clay-flying moth Orgyia antiqua, which my friend Mr. D. F. Taylor saw seized when on the wing by a house-martin, which relinquished its hold in consequence of a luckily aimed stick from my informant. The left fore-wing shows plainly the mark of the bird's beak, which, however, did not tear the wing, but merely left a triangular area denuded of scales. So far as I am aware, house-martins do not, as a rule, feed on Lepidoptera, and this instance is probably to be regarded as a mistake on the part of the bird. It is possible that other isolated examples of similar mistakes may have been noticed, but their bearing on the general question of the coloration and markings of butterflies must be very slight.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
LATTER, O. Birds Capturing Butterflies in Flight. Nature 65, 273 (1902). https://doi.org/10.1038/065273a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/065273a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.