9781422283448

The next time you see a leaf, take a second look. Insects are so good at camouflage that they not only fool other insects. They can fool people, too. Insects animals, or even bird droppings! Why make such an effort to blend in? This way, insects can hide from their enemies. Insects can sometimes avoid being eaten by looking like the plants they live on. Some insects are amazingly good at this. The Indian leaf butterfly and the Javanese leaf insect look exactly like leaves. It is very hard to see them, even if you look carefully. They had better watch out for animals that eat leaves! Stick insects look like the green stems of plants, thorn bugs look like thorns, and some disguise themselves as leaves, flowers, twigs, tree bark, other

caterpillars look just like bird droppings. Not many animals would want to eat that!

The abdomen of this leaf insect from Malaysia dangles down just like a real leaf. 8

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