Camouflage: A strategy for survival

13/11/2020

    If we look into the Oxford dictionary for the meaning of camouflage we will get: “the way in which an animal’s colour or shape matches what is around or near it and makes it difficult to see”. They use it as a defensive mechanism as well as an offensive mechanism. The organism tries to blend with the background or use a disruptive coloration in order to confuse other organisms. They also try to mimic other organisms which are usually avoided by predators due to various reasons giving them a survival advantage.

There are many different ways in which an insect can use camouflage. Let’s discuss some of them.

Some insects use a warning colouration in order to signal the prey that they should think twice before eating them. Sometimes they also use different measures in order to defend themselves from prey by having a distasteful taste, foul smell etc. Some insects try to mimic such insects in order to fool the predator and giving them a survival advantage.

Ever heard the name of the assassin bug (Acanthaspis petax) sounds creepy right? This insect has an odd way of camouflaging. It uses the corpses of its prey (ants only) and glues them on its body. It can glue up to 20 ants. One might think what advantage will it give but it is interesting to note that this adaptation helps it from preventing predation by spiders since spiders avoid ants as prey because they can swarm and use their chemical weaponry and turn the tides for the spider.

There are also some insects which try to look similar to different plant parts and are successful in hiding themselves most of the time. There are some which look like a stick/twig (Stick insect) or some which may look like a part of a flower like the orchid mantis. Some may look like leaves dried(for camouflage on grounds with many dried leaves) or maybe normal leaves (for camouflage on the tree itself) in order to camouflage in different surroundings.

They have evolved such adaptations in order to have a survival benefit which is important for an individual as well as for the species.