Natures wonders: survival of the feces (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, June 25, 2015, 01:36 (3438 days ago) @ David Turell

Caterpillar larvae look like bird poop, so birds skip the meal:-http://www.livescience.com/51316-caterpillar-bird-poop.html?cmpid=NL_LS_weekly_2015-06-24-"Curling up to look like a pile of poop might not sound appealing, but it's a useful strategy that some species of caterpillars use to hide from hungry birds, a new study finds.-"The moment the caterpillar uncurls, birds are more likely to realize that it's not a pile of excrement but rather a tasty snack, said study researcher Toshitaka Suzuki, a postdoctoral fellow of evolutionary studies at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Kanagawa, Japan.-"The bird-poop disguise is a type of camouflage called "masquerade," a defense that helps animals look like inedible objects, such as twigs, stones or bird droppings. Suzuki noticed that certain caterpillars curled up their bodies to masquerade as poop, but it wasn't clear whether this disguise increased their rate of survival, he said.-"Masquerading as bird poop is so advantageous that it isn't limited to A. juglansiaria. Other moth caterpillars, such as Macrauzata maxima and Acronicta alni,also bend themselves to look like bird droppings, the researchers said. Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars masquerade as bird excrement as well, but they're short and thick, so they likely don't have to bend to look like the real thing, the researchers said. Orb web spiders have also figured out the bird-poop camouflage trick."