Camouflage doesn't just have to be one with the environment. In nature, there are some animals and plants that have "very poor camouflage" and appear very abrupt in the environment, but they also have a strange camouflage trick - they can be disguised as the excrement of other animals. In this way, they do not attract much attention even if they are observed by predators.
The bird frog that makes predators unable to raise their appetite
What could be more of a disguise than pretending to be feces? I'm afraid you won't find it again.
Bird feces frog, also known as mountain garden bug-eyed frog, mainly inhabits India, Myanmar and China. The bird feces frog is a small frog with a body length of no more than 3 cm, the main color is brown, and the color of the butt area is mud white. These two colors are not very colorful from the text. In reality, however, bird feces frogs use them to combine them into bird droppings. This, coupled with the dots protruding from its skin, makes the bird feces frog look like a lump of bird droppings, so that even if the predator sees it, it will "disgusted" and walk away.
You might be wondering, don't snakes have infrared receptors? And wouldn't a conspicuous lump of bird droppings on a leaf make them feel like, "There is no silver in this place?" The reason why the bird feces frog is so well camouflaged is because it is a cold-blooded animal itself, so the infrared receptors of snakes are not always useful. Bird droppings on a leaf are normal, because birds don't have a bladder, and their intestines are very short, so birds can't control their bowel movements at will, causing it to often "go as you please" during flight. Therefore, it is normal for bird droppings to appear in some strange places.
Argentine silver fern using Shell Lang
When it comes to feces, then we have to think of shell lang. The scientific name of the dung beetle is dung beetle, which is an insect that feeds mainly on animal feces. There is a plant called Argentine silver fern, which specializes in seeding using shell lang.
In nature, plants have evolved a variety of seeding methods, such as small fruits with hooks, dandelions that flutter with the wind, and large, round coconuts, among others. The seeds of the Argentine silver fern are disguised as antelope droppings, thus attracting the arrival of the shell lang. Argentine silver fern seeds are transmitted using the way they eat. Shell Lang often spends a lot of time "rolling" the feces to other places, and then buries the feces as food for himself or his descendants. Argentine silver fern seeds are like this, rolled to other places by the shell lang, and then buried in the ground, so that the Argentine silver fern seeds have completed the spread. Moreover, the Argentine silver fern seed germinates fast enough that when the shell lang returns to look for his own "food", what it sees will be a newly sprouted plant.
In order to increase the attractiveness of the shell lang, the Argentine silver fern seed has also evolved a compound that tastes very similar to the taste of antelope manure, and the shell lang mainly uses the sense of smell to find food.
A newborn caterpillar dressed as guano
Caterpillars are very fast-growing larvae, and given their high protein content, it's no surprise that they have most bird recipes. This has also led to the evolution of caterpillars to develop a variety of abilities to protect themselves, some caterpillars are brightly colored and look poisonous; some caterpillars are covered with long hairs and taste bad at all; some caterpillars are perfectly integrated with green leaves and are difficult to detect...
The larvae of the citrus butterfly are very fragile at birth, and at this time it often cannot even move, so it will imitate the appearance of bird droppings, which at first glance look like bird droppings from a high altitude. The shape and pattern of the citrus butterfly larvae and even the smell are almost the same as real guano. However, the camouflage of the larvae is a little flawed, and it can only fool predators if it is motionless. So when the citrus butterfly larvae grow to a certain extent, it will change camouflage, grow green skin and form a pattern of human eye patterns, and will also produce Y-shaped tentacles on the head, and the whole appearance is like the green caterpillar in some cartoons, this "horrible" appearance is conducive to scaring away predators.
Moths disguised as guano and flies
The next one, arguably the master of bird droppings camouflage, is a moth called the broad bell hook moth. Adults of the broad bell hook moth are 1 cm long, the single wing is 1.9 cm long, and the wingspan is about 3.8 cm. The broad bell hook moth is widely distributed in China, Japan and Malaysia.
As we have seen earlier, some plants and insects can imitate not only the appearance of guano, but also the smell of guano, and the broad bell hook moth can also do this. In addition, the broad bell hook moth even has the extra imitation of flies (these flies seem to be attracted to guano). The torso and tail of the broad bell hook moth mimic bird droppings that fall from a height and then splash, while the outstretched wings each mimic a attracted fly. The false fly not only has a red head to simulate the eyes of a real fly, but also a black skin tone and thin lines to simulate the skin and legs of a real fly, respectively. The rest of the broad-bell hook moth is translucent white, which undoubtedly improves its camouflage effect. This painstaking disguise obviously attracts many flies to patronize.
Don't face the spiders
When it comes to camouflage, it's all about spiders. At present, at least 48,200 species of spiders have been found worldwide, including some masters who can integrate with the environment, such as the white bow-footed flower spider whose color is exactly the same as the white petals. But there are also some "alternative" beings, who disguise themselves as guano, and some even weave a net of guano splash patterns, regardless of their image as cold-blooded hunters.
Kinnagaai spiders not only have a pattern like guano, but also use special textile techniques (extending the area of spider silk) to weave white bird droppings sputtering on the net near their strongholds. Scientists at the Spider Laboratory at the University of Hannordington in the United Kingdom have found that the camouflage of the Kinnagaay spider can not only help it avoid predators, but also be used to trap prey, such as flies.
In addition to the Kinnagaai spider, the fallen guano spider is also a master of art imitating guano. The bird dropping spider not only has a white pattern like bird droppings, can weave a net of white bird droppings patterns, but also can adjust their body posture according to the actual situation to better camouflage themselves. It often camouflages on conspicuous leaves, and then weaves an irregular small white net on it, and is in the center of the white net, while emitting a smell similar to real bird droppings. Its camouflage was so skilled that it concealed not only predators and prey, but even the first naturalist to discover it, who thought it was a butterfly that was feeding on bird droppings.
Spiders that can imitate guano, as well as wrinkled spiders, Arkansas knee spiders and Sileniat kawata spiders, it seems that the most studied bird droppings is spiders.