The larvae of the moth are safer when they wear a "green coat".
The larvae of the black-veined butterfly are clad in armor and have antlers on their heads.
The larvae of the inchworm mimic a dead branch.
□ reporter Zhou Kona Correspondent Helen Lin Wen/Photo
In summer and autumn, observing insects in the wild is a lot of fun. Seemingly calm bush meadows, when people walk by, the grasshoppers, butterflies or praying mantises that are everywhere may startle you. And behind these little insects that you startle, there may be predatory insects that have been waiting for them for a long time.
Of course, if you don't deliberately look for it, you may not find the insects that have become integrated with the environment. This is the mimicry of nature, which mimics different forms, avoiding risk or waiting for opportunities to prey. Yesterday, Lin Helen, an insect lover in our city, showed reporters a group of dazzling insect "imitation shows" in the summer and autumn wilderness.
Weak insects evade predators by mimesis
In a world of more than 1 million species of insects, their stealth techniques and methods have reached the pinnacle of perfection, which we often call "mimetic or protective colors" .
"A well-known example of mimesis in the insect world is the dead leaf butterfly, whose wings have evolved to the point where they resemble dead leaves more than dead leaves. Its wings not only have petioles, leaf tips and veins, but even the occasional trace of diseased mold on dead leaves is meticulously copied. Lin Helen said that there is no distribution of dead leaf butterflies in Ningbo, but the dead leaf moth can often be seen in the dead leaf pile in this season, which is very similar to the dead leaves, and it cannot be seen without careful reading. Similar to the dead leaf moth, there is also the finch moth, as long as it stops in the dry grass, it is a natural dead leaf.
In the bushes at the turn of summer and autumn, the antes "sang" day and night, trying to see where they were hiding, but they couldn't find the exact location. In fact, these green grasshoppers crawl near the grass roots, and can easily be mistaken for thick grass stems. And the body of the big ant is like tender green grass, and its feet are like dry branches, jumping into the grass at will, looking like it is part of the weeds, you say it can not be calm.
There are also locusts in the grass, which we commonly call grasshoppers, and their "camouflage suits" are very similar to the surrounding environment and are not easy to find. After the autumn, the grass and trees wither, and the body of the Chinese grasshopper also becomes dry grass, which is consistent with the hue of the surrounding environment.
The imitation of a kind of insect is also jaw-dropping. The beautiful moss moth, with its bright color and the small face of the Monkey King on its back, warns predators through bright orange-red color, "I am a poison, don't touch me!" "When the grimace moth is resting, it has a beautiful face pattern on its back, and it uses this fake face to scare predators.
In the wild, insect larvae are at risk of being eaten by birds at any time, but their camouflaged objects are very interesting. Butterfly larvae disguise themselves as a lump of bird droppings at a young age, even in a prominent position above the leaves, who would eat the bird's poop? The larvae of the black-veined butterfly, clad in armor and with antlers on their heads, bow their heads even when resting, with strange looks and strange behavior that make predators daunted. The larvae of the inchworm mimic themselves as dead branches, glued to the leaves, so that predators often ignore its presence.
"These several mimetic insects have only one purpose, that is, to protect themselves, and their protective color is to confuse predators." Helen Lin said.
Predatory insects hide in nature, waiting for opportunities to prey
However, insects' "imitation shows" are not available anywhere. Experts say that insects must first choose an environment consistent with their body color to play a role, and secondly, they cannot move around when they encounter danger, and once they have action, they are easy to be found by predators or scare away their prey.
In nature, insects that specialize in predation also possess perfect stealth. Lin Helen told reporters that in the summer wilderness, the crystal clear stream is the living place of dragonfly babies. When it lurks quietly underwater, it is covered with sediment and algae, disguising itself as silt. Once the prey is approaching, it has an extremely flexible gripper on its chin that can quickly clamp the prey.
Mantises are also typical predatory insects, and their predation strategy is ambush warfare, often standing by the flowers, waiting for bees and butterflies to come to pick the flowers.
The flying insect frog, which is common in the wild in autumn, is also a predatory insect, but it is also at risk of being pecked by birds. Therefore, when stopping, they have to carefully hide themselves. According to Hayashi Lin, they like to hide in a background similar to the color of their bodies. The exposed yellow rocks are their favorite habitat.
Helen Lin said that mimesis and protective colors in the insect world are everywhere, which is a powerful means of escape for many weak insects that lack defensive weapons. However, it is also these breathtaking insect "imitation shows" that make the public's wild insect viewing tour full of fun.