Today, let’s take a look at these top “scam masters” in the biological world.

In nature, deception is common, relying on the superb acting skills of various creatures. For example, dead leaf butterflies can disguise themselves as fallen leaves to perform "invisibility"; members of the order stick insects have bodies that are either slender like bamboo branches or flat like green leaves; and octopuses and chameleons blend in with the environment.

It’s the annual April Fools’ Day again. We have prepared a few questions to see if you will be fooled by the top scammers in the biological world !

Question 1: Who is the real leaf?

Photo | Zhang Chenliang

Answer:

None of them are leaves!

Top left: A hookworm moth.

Upper right: A leaf moth. The front part of its hind wings is exposed, forming a complete leaf with the front wings, and the labial palps are used to simulate the petiole.

Below: Xiao Jianxin's silver-spotted moth, the silver spots on its wings create a magical hollow effect.

When it comes to mimicry, the first thing that comes to mind is often leaf mimicry , and the first thing that comes to mind is "dead leaf butterfly!" That's right, leaves are too common in the woods and are easily overlooked by predators, so they have become one of the most common mimicry. However, among the many animals that mimic leaves, the dead leaf butterfly's level is only average. Many hook moths, geometrid moths, and noctuid moths are much better at mimicking dead leaves than the dead leaf butterfly.

The wings of these guys can not only grow into the shape of leaves, but also simulate leaf veins, disease spots... Even insect holes, moths have ways to design them! They either make the holes without scales, turning them into transparent "windows"; or grow silver or golden scales, creating a hollow effect through strong reflections.

The walnut moth (Uropyia meticulodina) can be found in the mountains of Beijing｜jurong.cn

Question 2: Who is this person imitating?

Image | mesosyn.com

Answer:

It plays the role of a fungus (not a monkey)!

In the tropical mountain rainforests at an altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 meters in the southeastern part of Ecuador, a special orchid is bred. It has neither a graceful figure nor beautiful colors, but with a natural face of a great sage and a melancholy and sad expression, it has quickly become a popular little wonder on social media. It is the legendary Dracula simia .

God gave the small dragon orchid a monkey face. Was it to attract monkeys for pollination?

Of course not! The dragon orchid imitates its neighbor, the fungus . Researchers found that the lip of the dragon orchid is like an inverted mushroom, and the inner wall has a structure similar to the mushroom gills. It can even emit a smell similar to the mushrooms in its own habitat. Such painstaking mimicry is to attract scavenging insects to come for pollination .

The genus Microdragon has rich species diversity . Currently, there are 124 members in their family, including 2 natural hybrids. Most of them are distributed in South America, such as Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, and a few are hidden in Central American countries such as Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica.

The Monkey Family | 4.bp.blogspot.com

Question 3: What kind of tree is this?

Figure | listverse

Answer:

If you look closely -

This is actually a tawny frogmouth pretending to be a tree trunk!

The Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) belongs to the order Noctilucent. Although it looks like an owl, it does not have sharp and powerful claws and beaks like an owl, and its flying ability is not strong, so it can only implement the "hiding during the day and coming out at night" method - the Tawny Frogmouth hunts during the day by waiting for prey by standing still on a tree with its mouth wide open. Once an insect falls into its big mouth, it will immediately close its mouth and eat it.

Just tell me if it looks like a tree trunk | Wikipedia

With excellent camouflage and deep meditation skills, the Tawny Frogmouth can successfully hide in the trees, avoid enemies and confuse food. If an enemy approaches, they will puff up their fur and open their big toad-like mouths , showing the bright yellow inside of their mouths to try to scare off the opponent.

Ahhh the tree trunk opened its mouth!! Click on the picture to learn more about the Tawny Frogmouthed Owl｜birdsinbackyards

Question 4: Can you find the little animal in the picture?

Picture | In-Depth Images Kwaralein

Answer:

If you look closely at the center of the coral --

There is a jade rabbit snail there.

Too far? Take a closer look. How many jade rabbit snails are there in the picture? | Skaphandrus

The color scheme of Calpurnus verrucosus is a mimicry of the "leather coral" (Sarcophyton spp. or Lobophytum spp.) it parasitizes. The mantle used by the Calpurnus verrucosus to cover its shell is pure white with small brown spots on it; the wide abdominal foot that extends out of the shell also follows the color pattern of the mantle.

It is called "Jade Rabbit Snail", but it is covered with polka dots, which is hard to accept. However, if you are lucky enough to take a closer look at the shell of the Jade Rabbit Snail, you will find that the name makes sense. The shell of the Jade Rabbit Snail is milky white, with light purple at both ends of the shell, and a circle of yellow-brown rings around the protrusions at both ends of the shell. The milky white shell and the smooth surface are very much like a diamond-shaped piece of white jade. Imagine a conch carrying such a white jade and sticking out its two long tentacles , the name of the Jade Rabbit Snail makes sense.

The mantle opens to reveal a white jade | Brian Mayes

Question 5: What kind of animal is this?

Tip: These three pictures are of the same animal | ntnu.edu.tw & cheni61/blog.163

Answer:

They are both Broadtail Swallowtails, but in different stages.

Upper left: The third instar larva of the Papilio spheniscus butterfly.

Right: The fifth instar larva of the Papilio spheniscus butterfly.

Bottom left: Pupa of the Papilio spheniscus.

The broad-tailed swallowtail butterfly (Agehana elwesi), which is endemic to mainland China, can be called a fan of mimicry. They are good at metamorphosis, that is, they have to mimic different objects at different stages of development - their young larvae mimic bird droppings, the late larvae mimic snakes, and the pupae mimic leaves or dead branches. It is not until the adult stage that they look like real butterflies.

When the cross-dressing master grows up | National Animal Taxidermy Resource Library

Question 6: What kind of insect is this furry thing?

Image | pxhere

Answer:

It's not a bug, it's a bird pretending to be a bug!

Its name is Laniocera hypopyrra , and its chicks have very unusual feather colors. From birth, their bodies are covered with long, dense, bright orange down, with white tips that extend into filaments; over the next two weeks, black spots will gradually grow on the feathers of the chestnut-winged umbrella bird. When disturbed, the chicks will slowly move their heads from side to side, looking like a large, poisonous caterpillar with warning colors to repel predators.

The Chestnut-winged Umbrellabird may be the only bird discovered so far that can mimic poisonous insects . Although it is also an insectivorous bird, the object it mimics is not easy to deal with.

The Megalopygidae is a family of lepidoptera that lives in South America. Its habitat overlaps with that of the Chestnut-winged Umbrellabird. Its larvae were once Internet celebrities because they resemble President Trump's hair. They were widely circulated on the Internet in the past few years. The larvae of the Megalopygidae are known to be highly toxic . Their poisonous hairs can cause redness, swelling, pain, rash, headache, fever, vomiting, and even shock when they come into contact with the human body. There are even (uncertain) reports that they may be fatal.

Left: 18-day-old chestnut-winged parakeet chick; Right: larva of the down moth | Gustavo A. Londoño et al. (2015) The American Naturalist 185(1): 135-140.

Question 7: What kind of spider is this?

Image | Omid Mozaffari/Wikimedia Commons

Answer:

This is not a spider, but the distinctive tail of the spider viper. (Are you afraid of snakes? Are you afraid of spiders? Want to experience the thrill of two in one?)

The spider-tailed viper (Pseudocerastes urarachnoides), found mainly in Iran, is a master of offensive mimicry, which is a predator's way of luring its prey. The last pair of sub-tail scales and dorsal scales of this venomous snake are specialized, expanded and spherical, resembling the big belly of a spider or Solifugae, while the side scales are extended like whiskers, resembling four pairs of walking legs. Their bodies mimic rocks covered with lichens.

The bird only saw the delicious "spider" and ignored the "stone" behind it. People die for money and birds die for food. How many birds can resist such a delicious temptation? As a result, this delicious tail became their last dinner...

Conversely, some snakes are also imitated. This is the Congo giant toad and the Gaboon viper it imitates. | Source

Question 8: Who is the real venomous snake?

Figure | Nekaris, KAI et al. / Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases (2013)

Answer:

Pictures 2 and 3 are snakes, while pictures 1 and 4 are – slow lorises!

Slow lorises (Nycticebus) are also called slow monkeys. As their name suggests, they move slowly most of the time and have a pair of innocent big eyes. They look cute - but don't be fooled! They can release poison.

A frightened slow loris will strike a strange pose: raising its arms above its head, crossing its hands, shaking its head rapidly from side to side, and licking the venom glands on the inside of its elbows . The substances secreted by the venom glands, when mixed with the slow loris' saliva, become a highly toxic venom that contains proteins that can cause allergies and can kill small animals. Humans bitten by slow loris will feel severe pain and may even suffer anaphylactic shock.

Slow lorises are venomous, but they may also imitate venomous snakes. As shown in the picture above, the two eyes of the Javan slow loris (N. javanicus) and the surrounding eye spots are connected to the ridges on the back, which are very similar to the pattern of glasses on the back of a cobra. Compared with other primates, slow lorises have shorter vertebrae and longer thoracic vertebrae, and they crawl like snakes. In addition, slow lorises can make a hoarse "hissing" sound like a snake.

When two poisonous and inedible species imitate each other, it is called Mullerian mimicry . As long as predators know that one of the species is poisonous, they will avoid both of them, thus protecting each other. In the early Miocene, Africa and Asia were connected, and cobras that originated in Africa came to Asia and lived in the same environment as slow lorises. Scientists speculate that over millions of years, slow lorises and cobras have imitated some of each other's distinctive features. They are both poisonous, so this kind of imitation belongs to Mullerian mimicry. As long as predators suffer from one of them, they will be afraid of both of them.

Although it looks cute, don't scratch it like this! | BBC / youtube

Additional question: Who is this versatile king?

Answer:

Ding ding ding ding!

Let us welcome the Oscar statuette of nature——

Mimic octopus!

Mimic anchors, mimic humans, mimic submarines... This description of the abilities of the mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) in the picture above is, of course, pure exaggeration.

However, this also reflects how powerful the transformation skills of this octopus living in the tropical waters of Southeast Asia are. According to scientists' observations, the mimic octopus can imitate at least a dozen local marine creatures . The objects they imitate are usually poisonous, such as sea snakes, lionfish, anemones, flatfish and jellyfish, etc. - this is obviously a smart choice for avoiding predators.

Real and fake flatfish, lionfish, sea snakes. Click on the image to learn about the mimic octopus | i.pinimg.com

Mimic octopuses are well-deserved to be called performing artists in the sea. They can accurately imitate the body color, shape, swimming speed and movements of other creatures. What is even more amazing is that mimic octopuses not only imitate different creatures, but also reasonably choose the objects to be imitated according to the specific situations they encounter . For example, when encountering aggressive damselfish, mimic octopuses will adapt to the situation and imitate the natural enemy of damselfish - sea snakes. Their mimicry skills can not only be used for defense, but also for hunting. Biologists have observed that mimic octopuses will imitate a sea crab seeking a mate, inducing another sea crab to approach and become its meal.

The test is over! How many questions did you answer correctly?

Friends who got all the questions right, you have a pair of sharp eyes and most scams will not be difficult for you; if you can get more than half of the questions right, it means your observation skills are very good, so please keep up the good work; if you are the unlucky one who didn't get any questions right, remember to be careful when you go out into the wild. When you see "dead leaves" that can twist or "stones" that can run away, run quickly (remember to take a picture first)!

Regardless of your results, please take note of this message from nature: intelligent creatures are always writing new scams . After all, for them, every day is April Fools' Day.

Author: Infinite Little Bright, Attack of the Succulents, Brooke/Eagle Dance, Sundayhao, Frost Moth, Luo Xiaofeng, Jiuyi, Sayu

Editor: Calendar Girl, Maotun, Mai Mai

This article comes from GuokrNature (ID: GuokrNature)

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