Mimicry in Insects, Antique Chromolithograph of Natural Camouflage, 1896

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in color, from 1896. The caption printed beneath the image reads "MIMICRY IN INSECTS."

Dense vegetation fills the plate, and the insects are placed in it so that they resemble the plants around them. Along the bare twig at the top a long stick insect lies stretched out, and below it hangs a large brown insect shaped like a dead leaf. A green caterpillar curls on a leaf at the upper left. In the center a large brown butterfly with closed wings looks like a withered leaf, a broad green leaf shaped insect rests among the foliage below it, and a stiff brown caterpillar stands upright from a stem like a broken twig. On the trunk at the right are mottled insects matching bark and lichen, white moths rest on leaves at the lower right, a slender mantis like insect stands among the reeds at the left, and pale yellow flowers bloom at the left.

The plate is signed in the image at the lower left by H. Morin. No plate number or printer's line appears on the sheet.

The plate comes from The Royal Natural History, a popular illustrated natural history in six volumes edited by the zoologist Richard Lydekker and published in London by Frederick Warne and Co. in 1893 to 1896. The title page that accompanies these plates is dated 1896, which is the date given for this sheet.

Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along the right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Remains of a paper guard along the left edge. All four corners are present.

This is an original antique plate, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.