In many forms of animal, fish and bird life, the Creator has supplied protective camouflage to their surroundings. But it is most remarkable with insects, which are a main food for birds, fish, snakes and amphibians. The Creator has designed camouflage for certain insects so that they are hidden from their enemies, even though they are actually in full view.
Most frequently this camouflage is in their coloring or the imitation of the surface on which they rest or feed. The fact that most of them can remain perfectly still for long periods of time adds to their safety. There are literally thousands of insects so protected in very interesting ways. We will look at a few examples.
Those known as stick insects, with odd shaped legs and bodies, perfectly match the leaves or branch on which they rest in full view without moving during daylight hours, waiting until it is dark to eat the leaves. Birds often alight on nearby branches overlooking these insects and never suspect they are missing out on a meal.
The green wings and bodies of other insects are spotted in such a way as to give the appearance of leaves that have been partially eaten or damaged. Others, the exact color of a given flower, sit on its petals and appear to be part of the flower. An outstanding example of these insects are African plant hoppers. They come in two colors—green and yellow. When feeding on a bush of their favorite food, the green plant hoppers go to the top where they look like the green buds that they are eating, while the yellow plant hoppers go to feast on the yellow flowers that they match perfectly.
Some caterpillars that are able to remain motionless for hours are thin and covered with rough spots, so that they look exactly like twigs jutting out from plants or bushes. At times they hold to a bare branch with their hind feet only, while the front part of their bodies sticks out stiffly like a twig. These are so perfectly disguised that a photographer who once happened to spot one and took its picture, wasn’t able later to distinguish it from other parts of the branch when he examined his finished photograph!
These insects can “hide” themselves from their enemies, but as the opening Bible verse tells us, they cannot hide from their Creator. His eyes are always on every creature, including every human being. What does He see when His eyes are on you?
In the next issue we will see if we can find more of these hidden insects.
(to be continued)
ML-06/24/2012