A Look Stalks You Unusual World 13 The Secrets of Nature

The danger of being devoured has existed since the beginning of Time and is part of the life of insects. Therefore Nature has endowed these beings with defence mechanisms, developed over millions of years, which make them less vulnerable and in which ingenuity is more important than force. These mechanisms present strategies that are as surprising as they are varied: chameleon-like modifications of bodies and appendices that lengthen or expand in order to accentuate resemblance with the surroundings; surprising imitations of a flower, the bark of a tree, a damaged and tasteless leaf… camouflage so fine and diverse that only a slight movement reveals its presence to us. But sometimes the disguise is also a dangerous offensive weapon: intimidating positions that threaten the attacker; spectacular horns, related to sexual behaviour, which are so effective in the case of combat that they make the enemy flee simply before this vision of its adversary’s power; warning colouration on the wings or trunks - red and black, yellow and black - an effective system that makes the coloured insects practically immune. All these strategies developed by Nature show us that in our world everything is possible.

Opposed to such an amazing display of ingenuity, we cannot forget that these creatures also claim their own place in Nature; behind these defence mechanisms underlies the danger of extinction that threatens them: the deterioration of the environment and the felling of the Earth’s rainforest presage the disappearance of thousands of species of these small animals, irreplaceable in the ecological balance. As with so many other animals, they are also in danger of disappearing due to the ignorance of those other inhabitants of this beautiful planet called Earth, men.