What animal? I can't see it!

There are many different types of camouflage including; background matching, disruptive colouration, countershading, masquerading, motion dazzling and distractive markings (Stevens & Merilaita, 2011).

This week I will discuss background matching as a means of camouflage. When an organism’s colouring or patterns match its habitat, it can be called concealing colouration, general colour resemblance (Caro, 2005) or background matching (Ruxton et al., 2004).

It is surmised that the reason for this evolutionary trait is that the better an organism blends in with its settings, the lower the likelihood of being detected by predators (Caro, 2005). This is part of natural selection, as the animal that can hide in plain sight without discovery is less likely to be eaten (Dimitrova & Merilaita, 2009). Therefore, they are more likely to produce young, pass on their background matching genes and continue their linage.  

Background matching is an amazing way of concealing one’s self when in the right environment. Alas, if you are not in the environment that your colouring matches you will be easily spotted. The picture below, is of a Lichenagraecia cataphracta (lichen katydid) I found on a tree at my parents’ property on the Atherton Tablelands in 2015. It thought it was so amazingly well hidden but the tiniest of movements caught my eye. You can see in the picture that because it has been removed from its natural environment, it is no longer background matching and is easily visible.

Next week I will go into greater detail about background matching and give some incredible examples of such organisms.


Lichen Katydid (Benjamin Speare, 2015)






References:


Caro T. (2005) The Adaptive Significance of Coloration in Mammals. BioScience. 55(2), 125-136).

Dimitrova M., & Merilaita S. (2009) Prey Concealment: Visual Background Complexity and Prey Contrast Distribution. Behavioural Ecology. 21(1), 176-181.

Ruxton G., Allen W., Sherrat T. N., & Speed M. P. (2004) Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Aposematism and Mimicry. Oxford Scholarship Online. Viewed on 16th March 2019 at http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780199688678.001.0001/oso-9780199688678?rskey=UEjR2q&result=1

Stevens M., & Merilaita S. (2011) Animal Camouflage: Mechanisms and Functions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Comments

  1. Tasmin28 March 2019 at 05:14

    I’m not a katydid fan, but that is an incredible animal! How close to the background does the organism have to match? Can it be a little “off” and still not be detected?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Evolutionary Biology Eleanor31 March 2019 at 00:07

      Hey Tasmin, It was a slightly brighter green than the lichen it was sitting on but the movement was actually what caught my eye. It was only described in 2013 and I can tell why it hadn't been detected earlier!

      Delete

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