The art of mimicry
In an earlier post I discussed the vital art of not being seen, a trait that saves so many organisms from becoming another creature’s dinner (see http://bit.ly/1OjATh7). Here we have a different variant on the theme, namely pretending to be what you are not in order to avoid same. Most of them involve looking like creatures that are dangerous, poisonous or not tasty to eat, the best known example being those flies that resemble wasps. Here we have an exotic variant: the creature in this photo is a hawk-moth caterpillar in defense mode. It has retracted its little legs and inflated its head end and is very busy doing its best to imitate a snake, quite realistically in my opinion.
Loz
Image credit: Science Photo Library
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