Hide-and-Seek in Nature Part 1
For boys and girls “hide-and-seek” is a fun game, but for many things in nature it is a very important way of staying alive. For many little creatures the threat of being eaten by hungry, prowling enemies is greatly reduced by the God-given skill to look like something else. This is called camouflage. Let’s look at some examples.
Katydids (grasshopper-like insects) of Central and South America are among the most amazing. Some have shapes and coloring exactly like the leaves on which they feed. The wings of others look like big bites have been taken out of them, exactly like some of the leaves around them. So even though fully exposed, they are actually hidden. Some are colored green, others brown, tan or mixed colors, each matching the plant or tree leaves on which it feeds. And so they are protected from birds, monkeys and larger insects that would eat them.
Leafhoppers, found in many countries, have backs shaped exactly like the thorns on plants around them. They are completely safe from their enemies until they move.
In India the Indian leaf bug, the same shade of green as the leaves on which it feeds, rocks back and forth like a leaf when the wind blows, helping to fool its enemies.
Then there is the caterpillar of the sphinx moth, which frightens an attacker by suddenly blowing up the end of its short body to look like the dark-blue head of a pit-viper snake and swaying it back and forth. The snake-like look is so realistic, with two, imitation, big black gleaming “eyes” above a pointed snout and mouth, that the attacker changes its mind and “escapes” as quickly as possible.
Another odd-looking creature is known as the walkingstick which eats tiny bugs on smooth branches of a tree or brush. When it holds perfectly still, it looks just like a twig. A bird might perch right next to it and never dream it is passing up a meal. These insects don’t move until it is dark, when they start feeding.
How did these unusual insects (and many more) learn these protective camouflages? Did they get together and decide what would work? Of course not. Insects can’t do that. Only their Creator could give them the ability of camouflage that has been passed down through all their generations. This shows us another example of His care over all His creatures.
Next week we will look at more examples of camouflaging.
ML 04/29/1990