June 26th, 2017: Tricksy Critters

[xoxoxoBruce]

I saw it! I saw it with my own eyes!
Of course you did, but did you see what you think you saw?

When god plunked every living critter on Earth, the 4th/5th days 7000 years ago, (I’ll bet he/she made some ahead of time
and stashed them in his/her locker) he/she sure made a mess of critters. Of course all the proto-critters people keep digging
up were probably made the same day as the solid land, so he/she had that going for him/her.

All these millions of critters must have been hard to keep straight, so there might have been some overlap. You know, rush job,
a lot to do, invariably some color drips here and there, but no big deal. Hey Jackson Pollock, you dripped. Yeah, right.

The lab coat brigade and their camo field agents, have been sorting them out into groups by traits, among other things.
Three of the traits are ways to trick their fellow critters, so they can eat while not be eaten.

Crypsis.
A tricksy Baron caterpillar on a leaf.



Batesian mimicry
Where a harmless species has evolved were created to imitate the warning signals of a bad tasting/poisonous/combative species.



Masquerade.
Prey animals looking like inedible or inanimate objects native to the area like twigs, leaves, stones or bird-droppings.
This defensive strategy has been called lots of names like special resemblance, procryptic resemblance, plant part mimicry,
and concealing imitation, but some pros sat around having a few beers and pretty much agreed on ”masquerade”.



The facts presented in this post are a gift from the poster to the postee, and probably don’t represent the views of the
management of the Cellar… or anyone else.

[captainhook455]

Whats with the him/her? Everyone knows God is a man. How do I know? I have proof. Yes you heard it right here. Listen up ladies and see if you disagree.

Proof positive: If God was a woman she would have put man's pecker at the end of his chin.

Ok no applause is needed.

[Snakeadelic]

Fun details: Look at the first pair of the hoverfly's legs, how it holds them up and forward. I just saw this on a documentary about mimicry. The leg position mimics the longer antennae of bees & wasps--it's not all color & shape, sometimes it's pose & motion too! That's why arboreal chameleon lizards will "wobble walk", imitating a fluttering leaf, while the ground-dwellers tend to be more about hiding and stillness.

The green caterpillar next to the "poop pile" caterpillars can probably inflate one end of its body to look like the face of a vine snake.

Scary detail: many 'twig caterpillars' are carnivorous. Yup. Carnivorous. Most aren't actually butterfly larvae, though there is a species (Lycaenidae I think) that feeds on ants...while chemically mimicking the ants to avoid being detected, killed, or evicted as the colony cares for it! I believe there's a native species in Hawaii, one of the few left on the island chain after a hundred-year onslaught of everything from rats to chickens, that has hooks for feet and grabs tiny fruit flies that land too close.

It's weird out there. No matter where ya put the pecker .

[blueboy56]

Please forgive my unknowingness, but does that suggest that we may have a sociopathic demagogue in the White House masquerading as a person of great power and responsibility?

[Diaphone Jim]

It becomes a little easier to spot the Baron caterpillar each time I look.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by blueboy56

Please forgive my unknowingness, but does that suggest that we may have a sociopathic demagogue in the White House masquerading as a person of great power and responsibility?

I don't think the post suggests that, but that might very well be a possibility.

Originally Posted by Diaphone Jim

It becomes a little easier to spot the Baron caterpillar each time I look.

Yes, the first time I saw it I read the caption and thought they were shitting me. Now I spot it immediately.
It better hope that hungry bird doesn't circle too many times...



...or read captions.