Protective color is a protective color and shape of animals that make their owners invisible in their habitats. In fact, this is a form of passive protection from natural predators. Patronizing coloring is combined with the specific behavior of its owner. Usually the animal is hiding in the background, which corresponds to its color, in addition, it takes a certain position. For example, many butterflies are located on the surface of a tree so that the spots on their wings coincide with the spots on the bark, and the bittern, which nests in the reeds, in case of danger stretches its body along the stems of the plants.
The role of passive protection in animal life
Protective coloration is especially important for protecting organisms at an early stage of ontogenesis (larvae, eggs, chicks), as well as for adults, leading a sedentary mode of existence or being at rest (for example, sleep) for a long period. In addition, it plays an important role in conditions of rapid environmental change. So, in many animals, the possibility of a color change due to the transition to a different background is determined. For example, agama, flounder, chameleon. In temperate latitudes, many animals and birds are subject to seasonal color changes.
It is customary to distinguish between three types of protective color: camouflage, demonstration and mimicry. All of them arise as a result of the interaction of living beings in a biogeocenosis against the background of certain environmental conditions. Patronizing coloring is a biocenotic adaptation developed as a result of the conjugate evolution of predators and victims. In addition to patronizing, there are still warning colors, attracting and dismembering.
Protective coloration
As mentioned above, the protective color of animals always resembles the environment in which they live. For example, desert lizards or snakes are yellow-gray in color to match the vegetation and soil, and the inhabitants of snowy areas have white feathers and fur. This disguise of animals allows them to remain invisible to enemies. It may be to some extent the same for the inhabitants of completely different natural zones. For example, for mantis or grasshoppers, lizards or frogs living in the grassy cover of the middle zone, a green color is characteristic. It also prevails in insects, reptiles, amphibians, and even in some species of birds in tropical forests. Often, protective coloring may include a pattern. For example, butterfly butterflies have on their wings an ornament of many stripes, spots and lines. When they sit on a tree, they completely merge with the pattern of its bark. Another important element of the protective coloration is the anti-shade effect - this is when the illuminated side of the animal has a darker color than the one in the shade. This principle is observed in fish living in the upper layers of water.
Seasonal coloring
For example, you can consider the inhabitants of the tundra. So, partridges or arctic foxes in summer have a brown color to the color of vegetation, stones and lichens, and in winter it turns white. Also, the inhabitants of the middle lane, such as foxes, weasels, hares, ermines, change their coat color twice a year. Seasonal coloration also exists in insects. For example, a leaf-shaped tree with folded wings is remarkably similar to a leaf of a tree. In the summer it is green, and in the fall it turns brown-yellow.
Repellent coloring
Animals with bright colors are clearly visible, they often keep open, in case of danger they do not hide. They do not need to be careful, as they are often poisonous or inedible. Their warning coloring signals to everyone around them - do not touch. Most often, it includes various combinations of such colors: red, black, yellow, white. An example is a series of insects: wasps, bees, hornets, ladybugs, swallowtail caterpillars , etc .; and animals: poison frogs, salamanders. For example, poison mucus is so toxic that it is used to treat arrowheads. One such arrow can kill a large leopard.
What is mimicry?
Let's look at what is meant by this term. Animal mimicry is the similarity of defenseless species to species that are well protected. A similar phenomenon in nature was first discovered in South American butterflies, so in flocks of glyconides (inedible for birds), whites were found that were very similar in color to the first, in size, size, shape and manner of flight. This phenomenon is widespread among insects (glass-moths disguise as hornets, syphid flies as wasps and bees), fish and snakes. Well, we examined what mimicry is, now we will deal with the concept of a form that divides and changes coloring.
Protective uniform
There are many animals in which the shape of the body is similar to various environmental objects. Such properties save them from enemies, especially if the form is combined with a protective color. There are many types of caterpillars that can stretch at an angle to a tree branch and freeze, in which case they become like a twig or a knot. The similarity with plants is widespread in tropical insect species : the devil's mantis , the cicada adelungia, cyclopera, acridoxene, etc. With the help of the body, a sea clown or a raghorn can be masked.
Dissecting coloring
The coloring of many representatives of the animal world is a combination of stripes and spots that do not correspond to the shape of the owner, but in tone and ornament merge with the surrounding background. Such a coloration, as it were, divides the animal, hence its name. An example is a giraffe or a zebra. Their spotted and striped figures are almost invisible among the vegetation of the African savannah, especially at dusk, when the king of animals goes hunting . A large masking effect due to the dissecting coloring can be observed in some amphibians. For example, the body of the South African toad Bufo superciliaris is visually divided into two parts, as a result of which it completely loses its shape. Many species of snakes also have a dissecting color, which makes them invisible against the background of fallen leaves and motley vegetation. In addition, this type of disguise is actively used by residents of the underwater world and insects.
Changing color
This property makes animals inconspicuous when the situation changes. There are many fish that can change their color when changing the background. For example, flounder, thalassoma, sea needles, skates, dogs, etc. They can change their color and lizards, this is most pronounced in a wood chameleon. In addition, the mollusk octopus changes its color in case of danger, it can also be skillfully disguised as soil of any color, while repeating the most cunning ornament of the sea bottom. Various crustaceans, amphibians, insects and spiders are masterfully controlled with their colors.