Skip to main content
Scientific American
  • Cart 0
  • Forgot password?Loading
    Not yet registered?
  • |Newsletters
Advanced Search
  • Coronavirus
  • The Sciences
  • Mind
  • Health
  • Tech
  • Sustainability
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Publications
  • Subscribe
  • Current Issue
  • Cart0
  • Sign In
  • Newsletters
      • Share
      • Latest

      Menagerie of Mimics: Animals Don a Variety of Disguises to Avoid Predation [Slide Show]

      Animals employ many kinds of disguises for self-protection, including chemical and acoustic mimicry of other species

      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on Reddit
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share via
      • Print
      Menagerie of Mimics: Animals Don a Variety of Disguises to Avoid Predation [Slide Show]
      Slideshow (5) images
      View
      Credits: Michael Aw

      Menagerie of Mimics: Animals Don a Variety of Disguises to Avoid Predation [Slide Show]

        • Share
      • SHAPE-SHIFTER: Like most octopuses, Thaumoctopus mimicus, the mimic octopus, can change color to blend in with its surroundings. But it also impersonates at least one other species—a flounder—by holding its tentacles together in a flat, flounderlike shape and swimming in the flounder's undulating way... Stephen Childs/Flickr
      • TOXIC-SOUNDING: Whereas a diurnal (daytime-active) insect can advertise its toxicity with warning coloration, that strategy would not work for a nocturnal moth trying to avoid a predator hunting in the dark... Courtesy of Wake Forest University
      • SMELL NO EVIL: The large blue butterfly depends on an ant species it mimics during its caterpillar phase. Large blue caterpillars copy both a chemical signal of the ant and an acoustic one to trick the ants into sheltering and feeding them... Pengannel/Flickr
      • SAFE SNAKE: The harmless scarlet king snake (above) resembles the venomous Eastern coral snake. *~Dawn~*/Flickr
      • Advertisement
      • CARBON COPY: The viceroy butterfly (above) and monarch butterfly, which are both toxic, share the same warning pattern, which helps to spread the message to predators that butterflies with this patterning are unpalatable... Benimoto//Flickr
      • Previous
      • Next
      of
      • View all
      • Link copied!
      • SHAPE-SHIFTER:
      • TOXIC-SOUNDING:
      • SMELL NO EVIL:
      • SAFE SNAKE:
      • CARBON COPY:
      Advertisement
      Advertisement

      Newsletter

      Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter.

      Sign Up

      Support Science Journalism

      Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners.

      Subscribe Now!Support Science Journalism

      Follow us

      • instagram
      • soundcloud
      • youtube
      • twitter
      • facebook
      • rss

      Scientific american arabic

      العربية
      • Return & Refund Policy
      • About
      • Press Room
      • FAQs
      • Contact Us
      • Site Map
      • Advertise
      • SA Custom Media
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • California Consumer Privacy Statement
      • Use of cookies/Do not sell my data
      • International Editions
      Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.

      © 2021 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc.

      All Rights Reserved.

      Scroll To Top

      You have free articles left.

      Temp Paywall Img

      Support our award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology.

      Already a subscriber? Sign in.

      Subscribers get more award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology.

      See Subscription Options