bladesofgrass
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
|
Camouflage
Lichen-mimicking grouse locust (Amorphopus sp.) - Bottom right:
Lichen-mimicking katydid - Right:
Bark spider (Selenops sp.):
Two-tailed spider (Hersiliidae) swathing a cocoon:
Mimicry
Most mimicry can be qualified as defensive. Generally a mimic will choose a model which advertises via aposematism (see below) in order to signal its unpalatability. More contentious is the idea of offensive mimicry in which a mimic chooses its prey as its model in order to approach and engineer a situation that puts it at an advantage as a predator of said model.
Bee-mimicking assassin bug (Apiomerus sp.) with prey is an example of such mimicry. However, as is often the case, the waters are muddied by the model's own defences, a painful sting.
Aposematism (Warning colouration) can be used in mimicry, or to to indicate an organism's own toxicity
Braconid wasp ovipositing into a fallen tree trunk. After searching for beetle larvae using chemical and proprioceptive cues, the ovipositor which is several cms long drills into the trunk and inserts the eggs into its host.
Megalopygid caterpillar (Bayucca sp.). The long hairs conceal painful spines, delicate and ready to break off and imbed in the skin at the slightest pressure:
Thanks for looking and commenting,
Paul
|
