I need a break from all the doom and gloom and oil spills so it seemed appropriate to enjoy the ingenuity of nature while it is still there...
It was assumed in science that birds only fear certain caterpillar's camouflage after encountering the animal they are trying to duplicate.
The scientist Daniel Janzen, Winnie Hallwachs and John Burns argue that it is in fact not the case. Survival depends on split seconds reaction in the
animal kingdom and bird are no exception. So for a caterpillar to flash any kind of camouflage resembling eyes might mean the difference between being
eaten or living to eat an other leaf...
We propose that these predators (birds) are variously and innately programmed to flee when abruptly confronted, at close range, with what
appears to be an eye of one of their predators. Such a mimetic complex differs from various classical Batesian and Müllerian mimicry complexes of
adult butterflies in that (i) the predators sustain it for the most part by innate traits rather than by avoidance behavior learned through
disagreeable experiences, (ii) the more or less harmless, sessile, and largely edible mimics vastly outnumber the models, and (iii) there is no
particular selection for the eye-like color pattern to closely mimic the eye or face of any particular predator of the insect-eating birds or that of
any other member of this mimicry complex.
Here are some beautiful examples from the forest of Costa Rica....
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/733c4d835af630b4.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/d8ba57b21fca9ffc.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/a0891e052563801e.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/4fa1d9f48c913753.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/0a4e7143fa693a71.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/2d1d473de1a201d2.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/002571b9afd18888.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/50741ae344a4b18d.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/26738d70008fa066.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/c794b8a89f7d84f9.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/5283561875381c6b.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/7e6a135ae0decdc2.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/cc6c056f44e7b1b0.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/039511a1b5ada460.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/1297475769c63a6b.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/20848da1cef23fe6.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/46e60f09e361dd16.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/879c02437e94181b.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/1957252d47f9a39e.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/8a5359bd1c2f6309.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/f62fcb6475577e09.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/ff49f5c4086fbec0.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/6ca6b173b551532c.jpg[/atsimg]
Are they not beautiful?? well in their own way, at least.....
Now I have picked a few and these are just the small resolution ones. For the full experience visit the link.
A tropical horde of counterfeit predator eyes
VPRO Noorderlicht
Enjoy...
Peace
[edit on 17-6-2010 by operation mindcrime]