Page 79 - One Million Things: Animal Life - The Incredible Visual Guide

5 DISRUPTIVE COLORATION
Distinctive patterns and bright colors are sometimes used as warnings that
highlight an animal’s presence, but in some species they actually serve to
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break up the animal’s body outline and make it difficult to see. A tiger’s
stripes make it almost invisible to prey as it moves through long grasses.
Tiger prowls Brightly patterned reef fish are difficult targets for stalking predators.
unnoticed

6 6 MASQUERADE
Masquerading as part of their surroundings or as something inedible
Stick insect sways to is a strategy used by certain animals to conceal themselves. Stick
mimic twigs blowing insects mimic the twigs among which they live. The caterpillar of
in the wind the giant swallowtail butterfly looks like a bird dropping—a
deterrent for most predators. At rest with its wings folded, a
lappet moth resembles dead leaves.

7 COUNTERSHADING
Penguins use countershading to make them less
Colors
Tiger obvious. Seen from above, a penguin’s dark back
confuse Stick insect merges into the deep, murky water below. Seen from
predators below, its pale belly matches the light penetrating the
sea’s surface. The okapi uses countershading to
Butterfish
conceal it in the dense forests where it lives.
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Brown back
blends in with Part of body
shadowy forest exposed to
light is dark

Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar
Lappet moth

Penguin
Okapi
Part of body
normally in
shadow is light

Striped legs help hide the
okapi between the forest trees

CAMOUFLAGE

A predator has a much greater chance of catching
prey if it cannot easily be seen, while its victim is
that makes them less visible. Body color,
less likely to be caught and eaten if it blends into its
stripes and patterns, or even looking like
surroundings. Some animals have natural camouflage
something inedible can provide a life-saving
cloak of invisibility.

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