An insect that looks like an autumn leaf. Extraordinary leaf insect camouflage

deceptive appearance

The protective coloration of insects seems to be a simple and primitive means of protection from enemies. But there are other, more difficult ways deceit. The diversity of these methods to some extent corresponds to the abundance of forms of the insect class.

Autumn touched the crowns of trees, and they blushed with yellow, orange and red spots. Now each tree differs from each other, at least a little, in color, in the shade of dying foliage. Falling leaves will soon begin, and the autumn dress of the forest will fall to the ground.

The wind is quiet. The trees are frozen, not moving. But what is it? From the apple tree, a leaf fell obliquely down, as if from the wind, and, falling, moved slightly. Is it a leaf? Of course, not a leaf, but a butterfly - autumn moth. She imitates plants all her life: a caterpillar - she looks like a twig, a chrysalis - in green resembles leaves (she pupates among them), and a butterfly - depicts a real autumn leaf!

Leaf imitation is a favorite technique used by many insects. The bug Pephricus fragilis is so similar to a dry leaf that, looking at it, one cannot even suspect an insect in it. One of the grasshoppers, belonging to the genus Glyricidia, is also very similar to a dried leaf. The similarity is strengthened by the spots located on the wings, resembling the defeat of the leaf blade by a fungus. The Acanthops falcata praying mantis is very similar to a dried leaf due to very strange elytra and an unusual body shape. The resemblance to a leaf is also enhanced by the pose it takes. One of the tropical ground beetles, living in Java, looks like a leaf of a tree due to the wide outgrowths on the sides of the abdomen.

But the biggest craftsmen to imitate a leaf are kalimma butterflies living in India. It is not by chance that they are called leaf butterflies. The upper part of the butterfly's wings is bright and elegant, while the lower part has the appearance of a dry leaf and repeats its design with unusual precision. It was necessary to flash the outfit in front of the chosen one of the heart - and the wings of the kalimma open, shining with bright colors. An enemy appeared - the wings folded and in place of a bright butterfly - a dry leaf, worthless, useless to anyone, fell to the ground. And since dry leaves come in different colors and different shapes, then Kalimma butterflies are very variable and vary within the same species. To enhance the resemblance to a leaf, the Kalimma butterfly, resting on a tree trunk, sways rhythmically from side to side as if from the wind. In some calimmas, the wings reproduce not only the structure of a withered leaf, but the shape and color of the mold that develops on the leaves with such perfection that plant pathologists have even been able to determine what kind of fungus is depicted on the wings.

The European nocturnal butterfly Phlogophora meticulosa, when it rests with its wings folded, and the caterpillars of some species of hawk moths look like a twisted rotting leaf.

Light green caterpillar is indistinguishable among the leaves of trees

The caterpillar of the scoop butterfly nestles against the stem of the plant and becomes invisible

Grasshoppers from the genus Pterochosa, living in America, in terms of pattern, color, arrangement of veins, to the smallest detail, resemble withering and shed leaves. Here, the color tones of the leaf and the spots on them, formed by fungi and larvae of mining insects, are accurately conveyed. The perfection of the forgery so impressed the imagination of one of the naturalists of the last century that he proposed calling this phenomenon the term "hyperemia" (over-imitation), when the useful boundary is significantly surpassed.

Stick insects, which we have already spoken of as clever imitators, are unusually similar to various parts of plants. Representatives of the Phyllidae family have achieved special perfection. The external similarity of their elytra and forelegs with leaves is a remarkable natural phenomenon. In some areas where stick insects are found, the local population even believes that these insects come from the leaves and buds of trees.

The caterpillar of the moth butterfly becomes like a dry twig in danger

Well, and the caterpillars of moth butterflies imitating knots, each of us could observe in nature, they are so frequent and common. The caterpillar, disturbed or frightened by our not too delicate curiosity, immediately deviates from the branch on which it usually sits and, stretching out a cobweb from it, freezes like a wand in absolute immobility. At this time, she does not stir, does not flinch, does not betray herself in any way. long subtle body, wrinkled with light transverse wrinkles, a head similar to a bump or even a kidney, brown or grayish in color - everything is so reminiscent of a knot that when you suddenly see it in such a position, you will never think that it is an insect. And the caterpillar has more than enough patience. She will play a bitch for at least half an hour, especially if she feels your attention. Try at this critical moment for the caterpillar to hold a stick between it and a tree branch and break the invisible support-cobweb - and then embarrassment will occur: the caterpillar will fall and, having stopped pretending, will try to crawl away as soon as possible, stepping with a bracket.

The empusa praying mantis is very similar to a dry thorn

We have already said that many butterflies, and other insects, imitate the shape and pattern of the bark of trees, on which they tend to rest. This technique is especially common in night butterflies - hawks, scoops, corydalis, leafworms, moths, moths. But there are insects that go even further: they imitate lichens growing on tree trunks. The North American filly Trimerotropis saxatilis is similar in color to the lichens that cover the rocks, and when jumping, it tries to get from lichen to lichen, as if fearing to be against a background that does not match its attire. The praying mantis that lives in South America cleverly imitates lichens on trees. A grasshopper from the Phaneropteridae family, which is unusually similar to lichens, also lives there.

I must say that lichens as a role model are convenient. They are contrasting, devoid of the correct contour, have a complex small pattern and are widespread. Lichens are imitated by praying mantises, stick insects, locusts, butterflies and their caterpillars, weevils, lumberjack beetles and many other insects.

We are so accustomed to the fact that stick insects are the most skillful in imitating surrounding objects that we almost forgot to say that their main role is, as the name itself says, to be like a stick, a knot. The structure of most insects is subordinated to this role, including a few species of stick insects that live in our country (as a rule, stick insects are residents of tropical countries). Due to this appearance, they are very difficult to notice, especially among shrubs with dry twigs.

Two stick insects are not easy to distinguish among the branches of juzgun

Who loves mysterious pictures? I ask my companions. See this stick insect? How many are there on this bush?

The stick insect was sitting on a dry broken top of the sagebrush and, noticing us, began to sway from side to side, imitating a blade of grass swaying in the wind. But in the gorge it was quiet, everything froze. There were distant cries of mountain partridges, the babbling of a stream and the buzzing of flies.

We count stick insects all together. The job is not easy. He slightly took his eyes off to the side - and the stick insect was lost among the dry vegetation. In total, ten stick insects gathered here. Laughter and movement awaken slow deceivers. Reluctantly, barely moving their legs, long as stilts, they crawl from place to place and tremble as if in a fever. Then we freeze, we are silent. Stick insects calm down, freeze and become like sticks. Who was among the twigs, froze with long legs randomly spread to the sides, who was on a bare stick, stretched his legs along and became like a continuation of it. Now the stick insects have disappeared from the eyes and everything has become again, as in the mysterious picture. No one can find them all at once...

Why are these strange beings gathered together? This is not a mating cluster, since our stick insects breed without fertilization and males are unknown to them. It would be nice for one of us to sit next to them. But no one is willing. Who's got the patience to keep an eye out for something like this. Ahead is a tempting gorge and the hike that has begun is so interesting.

Our stick insects try to enhance the resemblance to thin twigs by swaying from side to side, as if swayed by the wind. Here they often overplay, and it is funny to look at a long and awkward insect with thin long stilted legs, vigorously swaying from side to side in complete calm, when not a single branch of the plant moves. Yes, here the ability to deceive is denied to the stick insect: he does not know how to determine when there is calm in nature, and when the wind breaks out. However, is there such a thing as complete perfection?

In their desire to imitate the stick, stick insects are not alone. The stick filly lives in South America.

In our country, there are several types of small rod-shaped bugs, whose body has become like a stick. The water bug from the family of water scorpions also comprehended the art of stick insects and, once in a net, freezes in immobility, easily resembling a dirty stick.

Butterfly hole silver on the side looks like a knot

The resemblance to a branch sticking out of the stem is well expressed in some grasshoppers and stick insects. A broken knot is cleverly imitated by a large wood borer beetle that lives in India. The already mentioned butterfly hole is similar to a fragment of a twig. There are other butterflies imitating a bitch and a stick.

In autumn, when the rains begin to fall, the desert comes to life a little, in some places the grass turns green, autumn insects appear. But now it is dry, there is no rain and all living things have hidden somewhere.

Leaving the car, we slowly go to the top of a gently sloping mountain with petrified riders, turn over the stones on the go and see who is hiding under them. With each step of the ascent, new distances are shown from behind the horizon: either the blue expanses of the desert, or the black rocks. The kestrel has flown away, the petrified riders are turning into ancient shepherd's pillars made of stones.

There are few insects under the stones. Maybe there are desert dwellers hiding under that big, flat one? The stone is very low and barely rises above the ground. The wind blew fine earth and fragments of dry desert plants on it. To turn the stone over, you need to pull on the sharp raised edge. But as soon as a hand touches it, a gray dry stick suddenly flies into the air from a pile of specks, zigzags and falls to the ground.

We carefully crawl to the place where she fell, and peer intently. But how can one notice a gray stick when there are so many fragments of plants bleached by the sun everywhere? And the gray wand again takes off into the air, but not at all from where it fell, but to the side, much closer to us.

Now we see that this is a small butterfly, and we notice how, before sitting on the ground, it sharply turns back towards the pursuer, so that then it suddenly takes off.

Let's look again carefully where she sits. But there is no one near the pebble, near which the butterfly seems to have landed. Around - only dry blades of grass, small gravel, and a hard worker ant with a heavy burden, slowly crawls through a heap of rubbish. You have to touch the ground with your hands. And again, the inconspicuous gray stick comes to life again and takes off into the air from under the very hands!

In the fingerwing butterfly, the body and wings at rest seem to be sticks.

Finally, the butterfly is caught. How wonderful she is! Some kind of narrow process sticks out in front of the head, as if the wand had broken off unevenly. Black eyes are not visible, covered with gray stripes of antennae. The legs are hidden under the body and only two stick out to the sides, just like tiny dried and broken twigs. One gray wing folded over another. From this, the body seems cylindrical, and there is a hole behind: the stick seems to have broken off, and an empty core is visible. What a skillful deceiver, this butterfly-stick! ..

The art of imitating plant flowers is quite difficult, so only a few tropical praying mantises have mastered it. The praying mantis Gongylus gongyloides, which lives in India, is very similar to the flower. The entomologist P. R. Anderson writes that, when viewed from above, these praying mantises do not notice anything particularly remarkable in their structure, except, perhaps, leaf-like extensions on the prothorax and leaf-like lobes on the legs; both are painted, like the entire upper side of the insect, green; but it is worth wrapping it with the other side up - and you get a completely different impression. The leaf-like extension of the prothorax, instead of being green, turns out to be a pale violet color, with a slight pink bloom around the edges; this part of the insect has an exact and amazing resemblance to the corolla of some flower. The resemblance becomes even more perfect due to the presence in the center of this corolla, i.e. in the middle of the mesothorax, a dark, blackish-brown spot, which depicts the opening of the corolla, the entrance to its tube.

About the praying mantis, living on the Malay Peninsula, similar to a flower, tells in a book on protective coloring, H. B. Kott. “Its coloration is very similar to the flowers of the Melastoma polyanthus shrub. The praying mantis is closely associated with this shrub and, finding it, climbs onto its flowers. The black spot on its abdomen is very similar to a small fly. A praying mantis lurks on a flower. On his body, as well as on the flowers of the plant, many insects land. The predator patiently takes down small insects crawling on it until large prey appears, which it immediately captures. This praying mantis is one of the most convincing and remarkable examples of the luring instinct known to date.

Praying mantises imitating flowers are a double benefit. On the one hand, there is little chance that insectivorous birds will pay attention to them, on the other hand, the prey flies to the flower, just have time to catch it!

There are many insects that look like thorns and thorns of plants. One of the bugs living in the deserts of Central Asia is covered with numerous spines. It is pale gray in color and strongly resembles the spines so abundant on native plants. It is extremely difficult to see this bug among plants.

Some insects have chosen a collective mode of imitation. Highly remarkable in this respect are the homoptera proboscis insects of the genus Flata. Together, they resemble flowers. In East Africa, two variations of these insects are known - green and red. Gathered together, the greens are located at the bottom, and the reds are at the top, imitating the foxglove inflorescence. In other similar insects of the genus Thinea, green imitate unopened buds, and red imitate bloomed flowers. This observation has been repeatedly confirmed by various entomologists.

Stick insects have adapted to deceive already in the very early stage of its development. Their eggs are very similar to plant seeds. In some, this similarity is striking and is enhanced by the smallest details, and the surface structure of the egg accurately copies plant tissue. It is very likely that this technique exists to protect the eggs from ichneumons or insectivorous birds.

By the way, this appearance of stick insect eggs is not without reason. Sometimes the development of an egg lasts up to two years, and over such a long period the possibility of dying increases. The shell of stick insect eggs, at least of the stick insect living in Central Asia, is very durable. There is an assumption: are these eggs distributed by granivorous birds? Is that why eggs take so long to develop? For slow and incapable of active settlement of stick insects, help in conquering new spaces is very helpful.

A good way to disguise is a fancy dress. The larvae of the lacewing ascalafs, as well as some lacewings, put on the skins of their trophies and transform into some kind of awkward shaggy lump, not at all like a living creature. The caterpillar of one moth puts on its thorns the flower buds of the plants on which it is wont to sit. The larvae of some shield beetles are distinguished by a similar feature.

Shield beetles are strange bugs. Their body is covered from above with a kind of shield that covers the head, antennae and legs. They are unusually slow and careful. Painted in greenish-yellow tones with a pearly sheen. However, after the death of the beetle, the mother-of-pearl glow fades and gradually disappears. Therefore, in entomological collections, shield-bearers are not as beautiful as in nature. It is very difficult to notice the shield-bearer, and when you find it, you need to be careful, because at the first sign of danger, the beetle falls to the ground and is lost among the grass and straws.

The caterpillar, light green in long spines, curls up into a ball and becomes indistinguishable among the gray sagebrush

In the mountains, along the banks of streams, rather high tarragon grows, dark green with strongly cut narrow leaves. It was the height of summer. Whether from a lack of moisture or from some fungal disease the tips of many sagebrush leaves have turned yellow and curled a little. These yellow tips of the sagebrush were imitated by the larva of the shield-bearer, and so successfully that it was extremely difficult to notice it. She was, like an adult beetle, green, slightly flat, with a small shield-hood over her head and with a long tail, which in shape and color unusually resembled the tip of a yellowed wormwood leaf. The larva was even slower than the beetle, and moved so carefully that it seemed to be motionless all the time. Worried, she suddenly jerked up her tail, and then the resemblance to a yellowed leaf intensified even more.

How wonderful this ponytail turned out to be under a magnifying glass! It consisted of dry molting skins, exactly similar in shape to a larva. At the top of the tail was the smallest skin of the first molt, followed by a larger one, and so on all five pieces. These skins, strung one on top of the other, resembled circus acrobats standing on each other's shoulders.

I noticed the second shield-bearer on saxaul. A whole world of various insects lives and feeds on this tree. There are especially many galls on saxaul, formed by gall midges, aphids, thrips, mites and fungi. Gauls herself various shapes and colors: in the form of balls, spindle-shaped swellings, cones, stars, others are seated with hard scales, covered with delicate white fluff or green, yellow, red, black. In the deserts, perhaps, not a single plant is known, on which there would be such a multitude of gall-forming insects as on saxaul.

A frequent inhabitant of the saxaul was a small shield beetle. It is also colored like green saxaul twigs, but its shield is not as large as that of other shield bearers. The saxaul shield-bearer intensively fed on the soft greens of the twigs, and its life was more or less well studied by me. But it was not possible to establish in any way where the larva of this beetle lived? Maybe she lived on other plants? But shield beetles were found in abundance in such saxaul forests, where almost nothing else grew. After all, sluggish and slow beetles could not migrate from somewhere else. Yes, and it is not in the custom of shield-bearers to eat different plants. Two years of searching for the larva were unsuccessful, and the life of the shield-bearers remained unsolved to the end.

At the tips of the green branches of the saxaul, among the many galls, grew a small, elongated, ovoid gall. It was inhabited by ticks, barely distinguishable even under a strong magnifying glass. The galls were tender and easily crushed with fingers. Therefore, they had to be collected with particular care: a test tube was substituted under the gall, and a branch with it was cut off with scissors.

But what was my surprise when one day in a test tube some of the "Gauls" suddenly came to life and began to slowly crawl along the wall, trying to get out. And from one "gall" he crawled out, leaving a transparent shell, an almost strengthened bug - a saxaul shield-bearer. It immediately became clear that the larvae of the shield-bearers exactly copied the galls of mites and were so similar to them that even close up they did not in any way resemble a beetle larva. It turns out that the larvae climbed onto the tip of a green twig, set aside the body at a right angle, and began to gnaw at the top. Here, all in the same position, they molted and the yellow skin hung on the tip of the body, enhancing the resemblance to the gall. One branch was quite enough to, without changing the place and position of the body, turn from a larva into an adult beetle. Only after that did the insect leave the twig-nurse.

The similarity of the larva with the gall is not accidental. This imitation has developed over many millennia. Since then, looking at tick galls, every time I asked myself the question: is this a real gall or a fake one? ..

Excrement is not needed by anyone, except for dung beetles. And there were many imitators of this substratum. Insects decorate themselves with excrement to protect themselves from enemies. The stark white young caterpillars of Triloqua obliquissima look like bird excrement, especially when perched on leaves. But then, growing up, they change this unpresentable outfit to greenish with red spots and outgrowths and then acquire a more noble resemblance to the scales of the base of the petioles of a tree. Butterfly moth Problepiss aegretta is very similar to bird droppings and sits motionless, closely pressed against the surface of the leaves. The caterpillar does exactly the same thing. nocturnal butterflies Acronycta. At first, it looks like bird excrement, but, growing up, it becomes poisonous and then, no longer hiding, it acquires a bright blue color with yellow spots. Many small night butterflies, sitting in a calm state on leaves with outstretched wings, resemble bird droppings spilled over a leaf. Other butterflies look like droppings due to their cylindrical body shape.

The sun was lowering towards the horizon as we left the gently sloping mountain with stone pillars. A few more descents and ascents - and suddenly there was a huge flat desert ahead, stretching into the distance to the blue horizon. On the side, away from the road, you can see a dark spot, almost black against the light background of the desert. In that direction there is a slightly visible road. We drive along it, cutting through the chilly evening air. The dark spot is growing every minute, and before us is a completely different world: a dense forest of mighty old willows, very small, no more than a hundred meters in diameter, a tiny piece of forest in the middle of a huge dry desert!

Damp, cool and gloomy underfoot. Frightened green frogs splash into the clear water of a small spring. The tall grass moved a little, and the tail of a large snake flashed through it. Frightened by our appearance, he disappeared into a pile of stones. The forest is very noisy. From the tops of the willows, the cries of sparrows rush - there is a whole community of them here. Small nests are visible high on the branches, and aside from them, on a thick bough, there is a dark nest of some large predator, built from a pile of sticks and twigs. Apparently, the forest provides shelter to many birds: lumps of bird droppings turn white on the ground, grass, on trunks and branches.

My companion decided to see what was in the birds' nests, and climbed into the willow, trying not to touch the bird droppings. The white lump of droppings easily falls off, but does not fall to the ground. He suddenly transforms into a wonderful butterfly. Having made several hasty zigzags in the air, the butterfly again sits on the trunk of an old willow and again turns into a white lump with black veins and spots, similar to droppings.

Lots of fake butterflies. They sit upside down, strictly vertically. Legs, antennae, everything that an insect can give out, are not visible and are carefully hidden under the wings folded over the body. Butterflies are completely motionless. Not a single movement betrays hidden insects. Black spots and stripes are scattered along the silvery-white wings. They are not the same, each of the butterflies has its own pattern. And, of course, all butterflies are able to fall down like inanimate lumps, without opening their wings to the very ground, like skydivers in a long jump. Catching butterflies-deceivers was not worth much work - it was enough to substitute an open stain under the lumps hanging on the bark.

It soon becomes dark under the trees. The chirping of birds subsides. In a small forest it is as quiet as in the desert. We get out into the open and consider our catch. By appearance- these are ermine moths - typical arboreal inhabitants, The bright robe of a moth with black spots resembles white coat from the fur of ermines with black tips of the tails. Having accidentally got here in the desert, in this small forest, the butterflies took root among the numerous bird society. It was easy for them to hide near bird droppings due to their wonderful coloration. And at night it's not scary to fly - the birds sleep ...

Some click beetles also look like bird excrement. One South African beetle is so similar to excrement that the entomologist D. H. Carpenter, who studied insect mimicry for many years, had difficulty recognizing the deception. The larvae of the shield beetles already mentioned above also disguise themselves by covering themselves with excrement. For this purpose, they use a special tail of a very peculiar device that folds back. Shield beetles from the genus Porphyraspis, living in South America, resort to an even more unusual way of disguise. The larva releases thin long threads from the anus, each of which consists of many plant fibers passed through the digestive canal. These threads skillfully braid the body of the larva and stick out in all directions like bushes, a bit reminiscent of a bird's nest.

On the back of a cyonus elephant black spot, similar to the hole left by the larva of the rider

The techniques used by insects to deceive their enemies are extremely varied. Weevils of the genus Cionus give the full impression of being struck by riders. On their light back there is a black spot, like a hole from a rider who has left.

Imitation of each other is the most common phenomenon in insects. In order to see such deceivers, it is not at all necessary to go to hot tropical countries - to the kingdom of the most diverse and numerous insects. This deception acts especially easily on inexperienced animals and birds. And a person who is especially little knowledgeable in entomology also easily becomes a victim of deception.

Ants... Wherever they are! Everywhere and everywhere they swarm, roam in search of prey for their family. Small, and probably tasteless, in hard covers - a solid lump of knightly armor. In addition, many have a sting and poison. Should they be touched? This is probably why insects are surprisingly often very cleverly faked as ants. These are the Central American humpback leafhopper and the Sudanese grasshopper Myrmecophana fallax. The thin waist of an ant and the swollen belly of a grasshopper are “depicted” with black pigment on an ordinary green grasshopper body to match the color of the surrounding vegetation. However, the impression of a narrow waist is achieved by two more bright white spots located on both sides of the chest and abdomen. Such is the European reduvium bug. Numerous small bugs in the Tien Shan mountains are unusually similar in appearance and behavior to small black ants. Their waist effect is achieved by two white spots. This method of masking insects is not yet known to fashionistas.

The bug of the genus Pamphantus is similar to an ant: in the nymphal stage it has a narrow waist, in the adult stage the pattern changes, white spots on the wings imitate the narrowing of the body.

One of the cicadas of the Membracidae family does not imitate ants, as many of its relatives do, but pieces of leaves that leaf-cutting ants carry to their anthills to fertilize the cultivated "mushroom gardens". I once met an insect that learned even more original way imitations.

In the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau, the grass has not yet burned out, there are many insects. A fly is landing on a blue flower. But, probably, she has already slipped away somewhere, since she is not on the flower, and only two ants drag their prey and, as happens with them, cannot do without mutual claims. Here one of the ants overcame the other and rushed off with the burden in his direction, but the defeated one gathered his strength and dragged the prey in the opposite direction. Temporary failure does not discourage the enemy - he rested, delayed the movement. Finally, unable to overpower each other, the ants began to pull and ruffle the prey, dragging it in different directions. What kind of prey, because of which you can quarrel for so long?

As soon as my tweezers touch the fighters, the ants instantly disappear, hide somewhere up and to the side, and the blue flower is empty. Maybe I just imagined everything? And are they ants? Struck by the hunch that some insect imitated the bully's fight, I begin to carefully examine the same blue flowers.

Here, on one flower, the ants are again dragging prey and are very similar to those seen before. You need to quickly pull out a large magnifying glass from your backpack: you can look into it from a distance without scaring insects.

The guess came true! Everything immediately became clear: a small fly was crawling on the flower, grimacing and twitching from side to side, and on its glass-transparent wings it was as if one black ant had been drawn. The drawing seemed very believable and, complemented by unusual movements, strengthened the impression.

Aciura fly has ants on its wings

The fly belonged to the variegated family, its species name was Aciura coryli. In most species of this family, the wings are covered with clearly defined dark spots and appear variegated. The larvae of almost all variegated flies develop in the tissues of various plants and most often in flowers. But about the fly imitating the ant, entomologists, perhaps, do not know.

Gotta catch the fly. With a sinking heart, I raise the net, the raised hand stops for a moment. A sharp swing - the head of a blue flower, knocked down by a net, flies off to the side. In the net, among the green leaves, something is crawling and moving. Carefully, so as not to crush the prey, I straighten the net. Right now in this fold there should be a wonderful motley wing. But the fly, escaping from the net, is carried away into the distance, disappearing into the blue of the sky.

I reviewed many blue flowers, but did not meet the variegated wing. Long, persistent and monotonous searches have yielded no results. Is it all gone? Is it possible to dig out the flower on which the variegated wing was first encountered. What if this is a female laying eggs in the ovary of a flower?

I planted the plant in a clay pot, which I placed in a large cage covered with wire mesh. Every day I sprayed it with water and occasionally watered it.

The calculation was justified. On the fifteenth day, several flies crawled in the cage, twitching amusingly, and on each wing there was a “black ant”. It was the offspring of the wonderful variegated wing...

The shiny dark green poisonous bindweed leaf beetle is clearly visible among the light desert vegetation.

Earlier it was said that many insects are protected by the fact that they are inedible, poisonous or have a sting. And in order for the enemies not to make mistakes, they acquired a bright, defiant coloration, a well-remembered and noticeable form. Such lucky people have no need to hide, to be invisible. They, on the contrary, try to be in sight so that everyone can see, know and remember that they are dangerous, poisonous. Weak insects began to imitate them, and so successfully that sometimes not only a bird, a lizard or a frog cannot distinguish a deceiver from a model that he imitates, but also entomologists have often been embarrassed by such werewolves.

There are a lot of examples, you can't count them all. Let's dwell on some of them.

The stinger wasp is clearly visible due to its dark coloration with bright yellow stripes.

Countless insects imitate wasps. The Australian wasp from the Eumenidae family is imitated by two barbel beetles. Both have a wasp-like pattern above, with black stripes alternating with yellow; but in the first - on the elytra, in the second - on the abdomen, since the elytra are reduced and turned into small appendages. The same wasp is imitated by many flies, butterflies and other beetles. Very similar to the stinging hymenoptera are many moth butterflies. Their wings are transparent, without scales, and the body shape and movements are similar to models.

Glass butterflies also look like stinging hymenoptera. Such is the glass case Aegeria apiformis. However, the name given to her, which means “bee-like”, is not entirely successful, since it is most similar to a large wasp - a hornet.

It looks like a wasp with alternating black and white stripes of the longhorn beetle Clytus arietis. It enhances the resemblance to a wasp with fast jerky wasp movements. They are extremely similar to wasps not only in color and body shape, but also in the behavior of the Glaucopidae butterfly. The Brazilian locust Scaphura nigra is similar to the wasp Pepsis saphirus. When she runs in zigzags with outstretched wings, exactly copying the movements of the wasp, the resemblance becomes simply striking.

The longhorn beetle plagionotus mimics a wasp when threatened by vibrating with outstretched hind legs

The longhorn beetle plagionotus living in Semirechye often sits on large white umbrella flowers, visited by wasps and bees. Its yellow body is dotted with transverse, like wasps, black stripes. In case of danger, he begins to vibrate so quickly with his long hind limbs extended along the body that they become like transparent wings. This barbel enhances the resemblance to a wasp.

In the clearings in the forest, in the swamps, in the field above the flowers, tireless syrphid flies fly everywhere. They love the large white flowers of umbrella plants, on which they spend time in the company of bees, wasps, bumblebees - decisive, independent insects, armed with sharp daggers and poison. Outwardly, syrphids are similar to them, especially to wasps, imitating them with bright yellow transverse stripes on a dark background of the abdomen. Often a sirfida transforms so successfully that you stare for a long time and ask yourself: who is this? Fly or wasp?

The syrphid fly looks very similar to a wasp

And yet, not believing your eyes and suspecting such a widespread deception in the world of insects, you reach for a magnifying glass. The antennae are short, not four wings, but two - a fly!

A strip of thistle thistle stretches along the steep bank of a large irrigation canal. Its purple inflorescences smell strongly and pleasantly. Many flowers have not yet opened, some have faded long ago, and fluffy heads are turning white. Various insects flock to the smell of thistle. But most of all some large bees collecting pollen on flowers. The hind legs of the bee seem thick from the collected pollen - as beekeepers say, with a bee.

Bees climbing over thistle are larger than domestic ones. For some reason, they are not very hardworking, sometimes they start chasing each other not at all like a bee, they fly away into the distance, return back to the flowers, behave frivolously and carelessly. Is it bees? Is there some kind of deception here?

I take two steps forward, towards a thorny strip of thistle, peering intently: an even flight, the familiar song of wings, hind legs loaded with pollen. An insect sits on a flower and suddenly transforms, becomes the most ordinary syrphid. Here is a surprise: there is a bee in the air, and a fly on the plant!

How great is the power of the image! A slight but typical touch of any animal is enough for us to complete everything else with imagination. Only one bee-like legs - with a bee, but it seems to us - a real bee, and involuntarily the hand reaches for the tweezers to pull it out of the net, because you just can’t sting it with your hand. The legs of the sirfida, it turns out, are the most ordinary, and there is no thickening on them that looks like a leg. The surprise is so great that you involuntarily think: didn’t all this seem to be? But, as before, sirphids soar above the flowers, and everyone has thick legs, as if with a butt.

No, it didn't seem to. You just need to sit in one place, do not move and wait for the fly to fly closer, and take a good look at it through a magnifying glass. It turns out that during the flight, the fly presses the lower leg to the thigh, puts its hind legs down and vibrates them. Legs thicken like a bee's. Imitation helps thick hairs. Maybe that's what they're there for. Cunning fake!

The poisonous caterpillar of the euphorbia hawk has a very bright appearance

In tropical America, inedible heliconid butterflies live. Birds never touch them. Many completely edible butterflies from other families imitate heliconids not only in color and shape, but also in the manner of flight. Brehm wrote that sometimes this similarity is so great that even experts are mistaken and cannot say, seeing a flying butterfly, whether it is a heliconid or just its “imitator”.

Species of insects, characterized by the ability to imitate others, are extremely variable. Often a species exists in two interbreeding variations, one of which imitates a strong, poisonous insect. Such is the swallowtail butterfly of the genus Papilio. Only females imitate. The black variation is similar to butterflies of another species, the yellow one is the usual one. Black prevails over yellow in the area where its model is found in abundance.

While traveling through the Amazon, the Polish naturalist A. Fidler met a butterfly, on the underside of which is an owl with two bulging eyes, a sharp beak and a precise plumage pattern. Butterflies-owls fly only at dusk, when real owls wake up.

One of the largest butterflies in our country - the "dead head" hawk moth - has a drawing of a human skull on its chest! This hawk is well known to beekeepers. He climbs into the hive and steals honey. It is difficult to say to what extent such a pattern frightens the enemies of this butterfly. After all, the human skull is known only to people. Be that as it may, but some superstitious beekeepers are afraid to touch this butterfly, assuming that it is guarded by an evil spirit.

Many butterflies that live in Brazil are very similar to small hummingbirds. Perhaps this similarity is accidental and is simply caused by the same way of life, since both of them feed on the nectar of large tropical flowers. One butterfly from the genus Macroglossa is similar to a hummingbird not only in shape, but also in behavior, in flight. Because of it, the local population has a belief that butterflies are able to turn into birds, and vice versa. Why not, think the simple-hearted inhabitants of the Brazilian forests, if a worm can turn into a butterfly, and worms come out of butterfly eggs!

Is the resemblance of imitators to their models not accidental?

Against this opinion is the fact that "models" imitate not only by form, but also by behavior that complements the perfection of imitation. Further, it is observed that imitators almost always dwell with their models. Thus, syrphid flies willingly visit large umbrella plants, on which wasps and bees feed, which they imitate. Here, together with their indirect patrons, syrphid flies are safer than anywhere else.

It turns out that imitators live in the same area as their models. In South and East Asia, there is not a single representative of the butterflies of the genus Prioneris, which would not imitate the butterflies of the genus Delias. Everywhere the couple consists of the plagiarist and the one whose appearance he imitates. At the same time, butterflies of both genera fly together and rest nearby on red flowers.

In the ability to imitate the strong, males and females have different abilities. Females of the North American butterfly Papilio dardanus form several races that differ from each other, as they imitate the Acraeinae and Danainae butterflies that live in the same area. There is nothing surprising in this. The care of the offspring lies on the females, therefore their life is valuable for the continuation of the offspring and the preservation of the species.

African butterflies of the genera belonging to the family Dicanidae, every one imitates some completely unrelated, but well-protected butterfly.

Imitation often goes so far that those who have changed their appearance are very different from their closest relatives. So, some predatory ktyr flies lost their resemblance to ktyrs, as they began to imitate blue wood-biting bees. Glass butterflies are very different from their relatives. They don't look like butterflies at all. Accordingly, they changed their way of life. Thus, Trochilium crabroniformis flies during the day when bumblebees, to which it resembles, are working on flowers, although most of the butterflies of this group, to which this glass-case belongs, are nocturnal.

Butterfly bumblebee hawk mimics a bumblebee

Resemblance does not in any way depend on kinship. It is achieved in various ways. So, many butterflies that imitate hymenoptera, armed with a sting, have transparent wings. But this transparency different ways. As a rule, different butterflies have different sizes and shapes of scales. In some they are very thin or greatly reduced in number, in others they are greatly reduced in size; in some butterflies they stand sideways, so the wing is translucent, or transparent and weakly attached to the wing and easily fall off. Thus, within the class of insects, the same goal is achieved in many ways. Each imitator went to his model in his own way.

The inedible soldier bug has a bright red color with black speckles, and at the rear end of the body there is a large black spot and a snow-white speck

Not all insects have the same ability to imitate. First of all, of course, there are no imitators among the poisonous and inedible, etc. Thus, the art of deception is unusual for bees, wasps, bumblebees, ants. There are no imitators among very small insects. They do not need this, since they are of no interest to birds, frogs, lizards - they are very small and difficult to distinguish. Do not imitate other insects and aphids. They are well protected by the fact that they have an incredible ability to reproduce. In addition, they have defenders - active ants. On the other hand, imitation is highly developed in such large, quite edible and, moreover, inactive insects as stick insects. Decidedly all representatives of this order of insects resemble sticks, dry twigs of plants, remarkably similar to tree leaves, moss lumps, lichens. Even their eggs, as we have already said, are similar to the seeds of plants. Praying mantises are not inferior to stick insects. Among them there are those similar to bark, lichens, stems of cereals, leaves and even flowers of plants. Predatory bugs successfully imitate other insects.

Among butterflies, representatives of entire families have completely become imitators. Thus, butterflies of the family Ginthomdidae are remarkable for their resemblance to many hymenoptera and differ greatly from their closest relatives. In this family, an almost complete set of imitators of the most diverse hymenoptera has gathered. Among them, one butterfly, extremely similar to a rider, even has a long outgrowth, similar to an ovipositor. This outgrowth plays no role in the life of the insect. Among the butterflies of the Heterochonidae family, there are scoop-like, leaf-rollers and even insects of other orders.

Some insects mimic other insects for no reason. Their models are as defenseless as their imitators. As if such imitation is devoid of meaning or, more precisely, of biological expediency. For example, some pigeons of the genera Lyptena and Vanessula are similar to butterflies of the families Nymphalidae and whites.

Perhaps in these cases the similarity is due to a simple coincidence. Butterflies of the genus Delias regularly fly from one valley to another in the evenings and return back in the morning before sunrise. Moths of the genus Dysfania take part in travels, very similar to butterflies, with which they make up a flight company. Moths similar to them also fly with them. What caused such a similarity? Is it not because they distract the attention of predators from themselves, being among traveling butterflies?

Wingless centipede mosquitoes of the genus Chionea look like spiders. What is the meaning of this, it is not clear. However, it could happen that an insect imitated by several other insects died out, but the imitators remained. Appearance does not change quickly! It has been worked out over many millions of years of evolution.

Deception is often achieved in opposite ways. Thus, many long-whiskered insects imitate the short-whiskered ones, or rather mask their long antennae with a light transverse stripe. In addition, in front of the stripe on the side of the head, the antennal segment is widened, giving the impression of a club and the end of the antennae, while the rest of the antennae remains normal, thin. Many flies imitate long-whiskered insects. They vibrate with their front legs, giving the impression of long antennae. The bed bug and the cockroach, imitating ichneumonid riders, have a ring on their antennae. One of the flies has the same ring on its front legs, which it tries to make look like antennae.

Ecology

The animal world never ceases to amaze. Wherever you look, there are creatures with the most amazing natural or acquired mechanisms. Both large and small organisms can make you gasp in surprise. The living creatures that are presented here have original abilities to mimic their environment for the purpose of disguise. They copy the appearance of leaves, branches, flowers and even algae. Truly, simply unique animals!

1) Ghost Mantis

It is unclear whether it is a dry leaf or a living being? Most people will answer that it is a leaf, even if they notice that it is moving. The only member of the genus Phyllocrania, this type of praying mantis lives in Africa. They have small size and reach a length of no more than 5 centimeters. These insects are very reminiscent of fallen leaves, and in completely different colors. They can be brown, with different shades, green or gray. On average, ghost mantises live for 2 years.

2) Beetle torpedo

Nicknamed "torpedo beetle", these insects are scientifically called Siphanta acuta. They feed on plants, live in trees and disguise themselves as foliage. When they rest, green wings cover the body, forming a "house". In length, the beetles reach a size of no more than 15 millimeters. They got the name "torpedo beetle" due to the fact that their larvae can jump to a height of more than half a meter. Their homeland is Australia, although they can currently be found in Hawaii and New Zealand. Some have even seen them in California.

3) Stick insect

As the name suggests, these creatures disguise themselves as small tree branches. Most of all, they resemble eucalyptus branches, and not by chance, because eucalyptus is the main food source for these unusual creatures. They have a long thin body, and they can also fly. Stick insects grow up to 18 centimeters in length. They are mainly found in Australia, preferring to live near water, although they are also often found in the wooded areas of New South Wales and Victoria.

4) rag-picker

This "seahorse" is very reminiscent of marine vegetation. On closer inspection, you can see that this is not algae at all, but a fish that is a close relative of seahorses. Under water, these creatures resemble the leaves of marine plants. Their leaf-like body parts aren't actually used to move underwater at all. These accessories help to disguise themselves as the environment. Transparent fins, which are difficult to see, help them swim, so the rag-picker least of all resembles an animal, but more like a plant, whose appearance it is trying to imitate.

5) Mantis "Devil's Flower"

This is another type of praying mantis that masquerades as plants. The insect has a bright color, sometimes it is called the "King of the Praying Mantis" due to its beautiful and unusual appearance. It is easy to confuse it with a flower or a leaf if the insect sits on plants. It lives in northern Africa and the Canary Islands.

6) Sea Dragon Algae

Another relative of the seahorse and the rag-picker, the algae sea dragon cannot boast of such an amazing appearance as, for example, the rag-picker, but it also looks very funny. This type of fish Phyllopteryx taeniolatus easily hides among seaweed thanks to its shoots, we look like leaves. This species is native to the southern coast of Australia and can be found in waters from 3 to 50 meters deep. When a fish moves in shallow water, it can easily be confused with a detached piece of algae.

7) Satanic Leaf-tailed Gecko

These geckos are mostly found on the island of Madagascar and have received some interesting nicknames. Some call this creature the "leaf-tailed eyelash gecko", others the "fantastic leaf-tailed gecko". The last name was given due to the amazing, almost fantastic appearance of this creature. This gecko has an absolutely flat tail that resembles a leaf, the body itself also looks like dry foliage, so it doesn’t cost him anything to hide in anticipation of prey, and also hide from enemies.

8) Monkfish

One group of fish famous for their ability to imitate, the monkfish are experts in underwater camouflage. Thanks to such an inconspicuous appearance, she easily catches prey and hides from predators. Some species of this group imitate stones or corals, others turn into sea squirts or sponges. Some of them can imitate other underwater creatures, for example, sea ​​urchins, others disguise themselves as rocks covered with algae. Without this kind of careful disguise, the sea devils would be too vulnerable, so they adapted with the help of a strange appearance to hide from enemies.

9) Scorpion fish

This creature also knows how to disguise itself as fallen leaves. Only underwater. They use this camouflage to remain undetected by prey. Fish hide between corals near the bottom, resembling plants. Their movements are smooth, driven by undercurrents. The victims of these creatures, without suspecting anything, swim closer to the fish, thinking that they are plants. The cunning scorpion fish at the same second grabs the unfortunate victim.

10) Eastern Serpent-necked Tortoise

These turtles have long neck, which protrudes far from the shell in order to look around. They live in Australia, mainly in the fresh water of swamps, ponds and lakes. In fact, they do not exactly mimic plants, but allow algae to grow on their shells, so the shell resembles a stone with vegetation. This appearance allows the turtle to be well camouflaged.

Among the numerous species of butterflies striking in their color, those that have brought the art of disguise and mimicry to such a level that they can practically merge with environment or any one of its elements.

Among these butterflies, it is worth highlighting the leaf butterfly, which is incredibly simple and just as effective way can make its presence invisible, even being in a completely open area.

External description of the leaf butterfly

When the wings of a leaf butterfly are folded, it is almost indistinguishable in appearance from a dry leaf.

It is thanks to this similarity that the common name of the genus appeared - leaflets. It is leaf butterflies (kallima) that are perhaps the most good example mimicry in nature.

The leaf butterfly is so similar to a dried leaf that even a specialist who is well acquainted with this insect, stroking the branch where this insect sits and, knowing that it is sitting there, cannot immediately distinguish it. The shape, color, shades and veins of the kalima wings completely, in the smallest detail, imitate a dry leaf.

Surprisingly, even the edges of the butterfly's wings look torn and frayed, like a dry leaf. However, the resemblance to a dry leaf does not end here: in order to achieve maximum resemblance to a dried leaf, the Kalima folds its wings in such a way that the hind wings rest against the branch with their short outgrowths, as if it were a petiole.

As for inner surface wings of these geniuses of disguise, then it has a rich blue color or a bright metallic blue. Butterflies fly fast enough and, thanks to such a specific color, during the flight they become very beautiful and noticeable.

The beauty of the leaf butterfly is complemented by a wide yellow or orange stripe located on the front wings. Some butterflies also have black tops with white spots clearly visible against a black background.

Distribution of leaf butterflies

These dry-leaf-like butterflies are found mostly in the tropical regions of Asia from India in the east to Asia in the west. In China, the leaf butterfly is considered rare. Depending on the species, an adult has a wingspan of forty-five to ninety millimeters.

Natural enemies of leaf butterflies

There are more than enough enemies in the natural habitat of the leaf butterfly. These are wasps, and spiders, and ants, and birds, and even some bacteria. True, the behavior of leaf butterflies in birds is perplexing. Having noticed a leaf butterfly and choosing it as prey, the bird is already ready to grab a fluttering or sitting insect, but at the same moment it disappears and only a dried leaf remains in its place, which is of no interest.

Feeding leaf butterflies

Leaf butterflies feed on overripe fruits and plant sap, which make up almost their entire diet.

Reproduction of leaf butterflies

The offspring of the leaf butterfly brings twice a year: once in the wet season and the second time in the dry.

The generation born in the wet season has a slightly smaller size and a darker color of the wings. Sexual dimorphism is not expressed, and females and males practically do not differ from each other.

After mating, sexually mature females lay their eggs near large trees, boulders, and also on host plants. Outwardly, the eggs of the leaf butterfly look like a green ball. Ten vertical ribs can be seen on its surface. The larvae that have just hatched from the egg are painted black and have spikes on the body. In the final stage of the larva, the caterpillar turns red instead of black. As a rule, the chrysalis hangs on thin branches of plants, painted in Brown color, and on each segment of the abdomen has sharp protrusions of a conical shape.

This species of stick insect was imported from West Malaysia and has now been freely bred at home for several decades. It is no coincidence that the stick insect (Phyllium bioculatum) is one of the most popular species that can be kept at home, in insectariums. The females look like beautiful leaves, they are magnificent, although these insects are perfectly camouflaged among the foliage and are very difficult to see. Stick insects of this species are not poisonous, not aggressive, and very inactive, so camouflage is their the only way protect yourself from predators. The bodies of leaflets can be different color, from light green to reddish brown. Individuals come across yellow, brick, rusty-pink, light green, green with tan marks and spots of different shades.

The size of the female stick insect varies from 80 - 95 mm in length and 40 - 50 mm in width. Unlike other species, the female leafworm has a well-developed pair of front wings, which they never use for their intended purpose. There are always more males, their abdomen is much narrower than that of females, and they are smaller in size - about 60 mm. The front and hind wings of these insects are well developed, and they can fly. Green color is acquired during the first week, after the final molt. They turn golden with age. Males are often very active and difficult to handle, they keep trying to fly away, and when trying to catch them, they easily lose their legs. They turn into adult (sexually mature) insects within 5 months, in females this process lasts a little longer and takes about 6 months.

Since males mature faster and their lives are rather short, many of them are not available for mating. After all, females do not even have time to grow up by this time. Therefore, for breeding stick insects, it is better to have several individuals of different ages. How long do stick insects of this species live? Leafworms live from several weeks to several months, but if you learn how to propagate them, then stick insects of this species replacing each other will delight you for a long time. At the very least, caring for them is not as difficult as with those who also live very little.

The fertilized female will have a short time pouch of the genital area. After successful mating, females lay over 300 eggs throughout their lives, averaging 2 to 3 eggs per day. The eggs vary in color from light to dark brown, they are like seeds, with five ridges, about 9 x 5 mm in size. Incubation period insect on wet sand temperature regime(23 - 28 ° C) is about 5 months.

Keeping stick insects will not be difficult if they are placed in a spacious and large insectarium with fresh leaves. Of the feed for leaflets, oak, raspberry or blackberry leaves are suitable. Young stick insects prefer tender parts of plants, but it is not recommended to feed leaves that have just unfolded from the buds, as they contain substances that are poisonous to insects.

Leaf insects are the most remarkable mimics in the entire animal kingdom and have the most ideal camouflage capabilities. These insects take the form of a leaf to hide themselves from predators. They do this in such detail and precision that predators are often unable to distinguish them from real leaves. In some varieties, bite marks are even formed at the edge of the leaf body of the insect. To further confuse predators, when the leaf insect moves, it sways back and forth to mimic a real leaf blown by the wind.

“There are certain trees on this island whose leaves, after they fall, move and move. They are like the leaves of a mulberry tree, but not so long. If touched, they run away, and if crushed, they do not bleed. I kept one for nine days in a box. When I opened it, the leaf moved around the box. I believe they live even without air."

Leaf insects live in territories from South Asia to Southeast Asia and Australia. There is currently no agreement on the preferred classification of this group, but they are usually characterized as the genus Phylliidae.