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Camouflaged
and Disguised
Butterflies, Moths and Caterpillars
Some butterflies, moths and caterpillars are
camouflaged or disguised. They hide in their natural resting place.
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Staying Safe
Camouflaged/Disguised -
concealment by means of disguise – behavior or an expedient
designed to deceive or hide. Its colors, patterns or markings
blend in with its surroundings making it difficult to notice
and hard for predators to find or see them. Markings that look
like big eyes can confuse and frighten off their enemies.
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When some butterflies,
moths or caterpillars are in danger they say
things to their enemies. This is done by surprising their attacker.
A moth may be resting
on a tree that is the same color as the moth,
but its brightly coloured hind wings are hidden. If the attacker disturbs
the moth it flies and flashes its brightly
colored hind wings to startle the attacker. The moth can
then land and settle on the tree again and the attacker thinks that
the moth has gone.
A lot of butterflies appear too bright
in color so that they do not blend in with their surroundings. If a butterfly holds
it's wings together over it's back the bright colors are then hidden.
The underside of their wings are usually a brown or green color to
blend in with the leaves and branches, therefore making it difficult
to be seen by it's predators.
Here are a few camouflaged
and disguised butterflies, moths and caterpillars to
look for:
Angle Shades Moth – This
moth looks like crumpled leaves.
Bird-dropping Caterpillar - This caterpillar
looks just like what it's name suggests - a pile of bird's droppings.
So it survives longer because not many animals want to eat it.
Buff Tip Moth – This
moth looks like a twig.
Elephant Hawk Moth Caterpillar -
This caterpillar has very large eye markings on its body and
makes it look like a snake's head at the front of its body.
Eyed Hawk Moth -This
moth has the markings of two big eyes on its hind wings. If it is
disturbed it will move its front wings to flash the two big eyes
that are underneath. The enemy is frightened as it thinks they are
the eyes of a bit animal.
Herald Moth – This
moth looks like dead leaves.
Indian Leaf Butterfly – This
butterfly is perfectly camouflaged. It looks like a leaf on a twig
and you could walk past it and never see it.
Peacock Butterfly - This butterfly has spots that look like eyes to scare off the birds.
Pine Hawk Moth – This
moth looks like the bark of the tree it rests on.
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