'', 1890, introduced terms including "
aposematic". Poulton was a
Darwinist, believing in
natural selection as the primary force in evolution. His 1890 book,
The Colours of Animals, introduced the concepts of
frequency-dependent selection and
aposematic coloration, as well as supporting Darwin's then unpopular theories of natural selection and
sexual selection. He conducted a range of experiments on the colours of polymorphic caterpillars to examine if food, background or other factors are involved in their colour changes. He was able to show that the caterpillars were sensitive to the background colours and that it was perceived even when they were blinded, and was among the earliest to suggest extraocular photoreception. Poulton enlarged the Hope entomological collections with his catches in the field which earned him the nickname of "Bag-all" Poulton. Many of the specimens are unmounted and held in biscuit tins. In his 1896 book
Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection, Poulton described Darwin's
On the Origin of Species as "incomparably the greatest work" that the biological sciences had seen. Critics of natural selection, Poulton contended, had not taken the time to understand it. Poulton, along with
Julian Huxley,
J.B.S. Haldane,
R.A. Fisher and
E.B. Ford, promoted the idea of natural selection throughout the period of the
eclipse of Darwinism, when it was denigrated. There was a long debate between Poulton and the geneticist
Reginald Punnett, one of
Bateson's disciples. Punnett's 1915
Mimicry in Butterflies rejected selection as the main cause of
mimicry, while Poulton supported it. Further, Poulton's 1908
Essays on Evolution opposed genetics on the grounds that "
Mendelism" was an obstacle to evolutionary thought; but he changed his mind and came to support the work of the Genetical Society. in the book. Poulton's Presidential Address to the
British Association in 1937 at the age of 81 reviewed the history of evolutionary thought. He stated that the work of
J.B.S. Haldane,
R.A. Fisher and
Julian Huxley was vitally important for showing the relationships between Mendelism and natural selection. The observations and experiments of many biologists had "immensely strengthened and confirmed" the researches on mimicry and warning colours of pioneers like
Bates,
Wallace,
Meldola,
Trimen and
Müller. == Family ==