The Descent of Man

80), the males of some species make a peculiar
singing noise whilst pursuing the females.
ORDER, COLEOPTERA (BEETLES).
Many beetles are coloured so as to resemble the
surfaces which they habitually frequent, and
they thus escape detection by their enemies.
Other species, for instance diamond-beetles, are
ornamented with splendid colours, which are
often arranged in stripes, spots, crosses, and
other elegant patterns. Such colours can hardly
serve directly as a protection, except in the case
of certain flower-feeding species; but they may
serve as a warning or means of recognition, on
the same principle as the phosphorescence of
the glow-worm. As with beetles the colours of
the two sexes are generally alike, we have no
evidence that they have been gained through
sexual selection; but this is at least possible, for
they have been developed in one sex and then
transferred to the other; and this view is even in