Crypsis by background matching and disruptive coloration as drivers of substrate occupation in sympatric Amazonian bark praying mantises.

ABSTRACT: Background matching and disruptive coloration are common camouflage strategies in nature, but few studies have accurately measured their protective value in living organisms. Amazon's Bark praying mantises exhibit colour patterns matching whitish and greenish-brown tree trunks. We tested the functional significance of background matching and disruptive coloration of different praying mantis morphospecies (white, grey and green) detected by DNA barcoding. Through image analysis, avian visual models and field experiments using humans as potential predators, we explored whether the background occupation of mantises provides camouflage against predation. Data were obtained for individuals against their occupied tree trunks (whitish or greenish-brown) and microhabitats (lichen or bryophyte patc

SUBMITTER: de Alcantara Viana JV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10652001 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature