crypsis

n. the camouflage or protective appearance of an insect or animal. Subjects: English, Biology

Editorial Note: Crypsis includes the stripes of a zebra that permit individuals to blend with a herd, moths that take on bark-like coloring so they are indistinguishable on trees, non-venomous snakes evolved to look like venomous species, insects that look like twigs or leaves, and brightly colored frogs that falsely indicate to predators that they are poisonous.

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Citations: 1956 H.B.D. Kettlewell Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences (July 24) “A Resume of Investigations on the Evolution of Melanism in the Lepidoptera” vol. 145, no. 920, p. 297: In those insect which gain protection from mechanisms other than crypsis (warning, threat and flash coloration), or even in those cryptic moths which benefit from resembling dead leaves, the melanics are rare, recessive, sub-lethal and are probably retained by recurrent mutation. 1983 Craig Packer Science (Sept. 16) “Sexual dimorphism: the horns of African antelopes” vol. 221, p. 1191: The correlation between body weight and the presence of horns in females may be a consequence of the relation between body weight and antipredator behavior in antelopes: smaller species rely on crypsis or flight while large species often show direct defense against predators. 2005 Tim Cam RedNova (Feb. 23) “The Adaptive Significance of Coloration in Mammals”: Animals can remain concealed when their overall coloration (box 1) resembles or matches the natural background of their environment (Endler 1978). This phenomenon, also known as general color resemblance, includes crypsis (a type of camouflage), in which overall body color resembles the general color of the habitat, or pattern blending, in which color patterns on the body match patterns of light and dark in the environment.

Posted 25 Feb 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend