Warning Colors
Warning Colors
Bright colors help many animals find others of their species and communicate with them. They may also help hide animals in their habitats. Yet, bright colors can also be warning colors. Many animals that are poisonous, bad tasting, or both are clad in warning colors. The colors say to predators, “Don’t even think of attacking me. You’ll be sorry.”
A predator that licks, mouths, or bites an animal with warning colors often drops or spits out its prey. The prey may taste bad, or irritate the predator’s mouth. If the prey’s poison is strong, it may also make the predator feel sick and throw up. After one or more experiences like this, the predator learns that it is a bad idea to attack this sort of prey. It is unlikely to go after another animal that looks like this disastrous meal.
Disgusting or sickening a predator in this way may be a better strategy for a prey animal than killing the predator. It is useful to have “educated” predators in the neighborhood—predators that will steer clear of the prey.
The most widely used warning colors are red, orange, yellow, black, or a combination of these. The iron-cross blister beetle, for example, has a black body, red head, and yellow wing covers marked with black bands. Like other blister beetles, it oozes irritating oil when seized by a predator. The oil causes blisters to form on the predator’s skin.
Another noxious animal, the koppie foam grasshopper of South Africa, is black with red stripes. If it is attacked, a smelly, poisonous foam bubbles from its body. The foam not only makes the grasshopper taste bad, but it also is strong enough to kill a dog. Likewise, the lubber grasshopper of the southeastern United States is clad in warning colors of black and yellow. It also bubbles an irritating foam that is toxic enough to kill a bird. Opossums that swallow a lubber quickly throw it up.
Ladybugs with bright red shells and black dots are also wearing warning colors. The bright pattern signals that the ladybug may sicken or kill a small animal that eats it. A bird, lizard, or insect that ignores the warning and grabs the ladybug gets a second warning in the form of a smelly, bad-tasting yellow liquid that oozes from the insect’s joints. This oozing is called reflex bleeding. in addition to smelling and tasting awful, the fluid clogs up an insect predator’s jaws. The ladybug’s orange-and-black young also use reflex bleeding as a defense.
Moths, butterflies, and caterpillars that are poor-tasting or poisonous have warning colors as well. The white, black, and yellow caterpillar of the monarch butterfly, for example, is poisonous. The orange-and-black-striped caterpillars of the cinnabar moth are poisonous, too.
European magpie moths are boldly patterned at every stage of life. in their youth, their white, black, and red caterpillars ooze foul-tasting fluid that causes predators to spit them out. The caterpillars form cocoons that are glossy black and ringed with yellow stripes. The adult moths that hatch have white, black, and yellow markings.
Bright colors help many animals find others of their species and communicate with them. They may also help hide animals in their habitats. Yet, bright colors can also be warning colors. Many animals that are poisonous, bad tasting, or both are clad in warning colors. The colors say to predators, “Don’t even think of attacking me. You’ll be sorry.”
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| A cinnabar caterpillar is foul tasting and poisonous, and its orange and black warning colors are meant to keep predators away. |
A predator that licks, mouths, or bites an animal with warning colors often drops or spits out its prey. The prey may taste bad, or irritate the predator’s mouth. If the prey’s poison is strong, it may also make the predator feel sick and throw up. After one or more experiences like this, the predator learns that it is a bad idea to attack this sort of prey. It is unlikely to go after another animal that looks like this disastrous meal.
Disgusting or sickening a predator in this way may be a better strategy for a prey animal than killing the predator. It is useful to have “educated” predators in the neighborhood—predators that will steer clear of the prey.
The most widely used warning colors are red, orange, yellow, black, or a combination of these. The iron-cross blister beetle, for example, has a black body, red head, and yellow wing covers marked with black bands. Like other blister beetles, it oozes irritating oil when seized by a predator. The oil causes blisters to form on the predator’s skin.
Another noxious animal, the koppie foam grasshopper of South Africa, is black with red stripes. If it is attacked, a smelly, poisonous foam bubbles from its body. The foam not only makes the grasshopper taste bad, but it also is strong enough to kill a dog. Likewise, the lubber grasshopper of the southeastern United States is clad in warning colors of black and yellow. It also bubbles an irritating foam that is toxic enough to kill a bird. Opossums that swallow a lubber quickly throw it up.
Ladybugs with bright red shells and black dots are also wearing warning colors. The bright pattern signals that the ladybug may sicken or kill a small animal that eats it. A bird, lizard, or insect that ignores the warning and grabs the ladybug gets a second warning in the form of a smelly, bad-tasting yellow liquid that oozes from the insect’s joints. This oozing is called reflex bleeding. in addition to smelling and tasting awful, the fluid clogs up an insect predator’s jaws. The ladybug’s orange-and-black young also use reflex bleeding as a defense.
Moths, butterflies, and caterpillars that are poor-tasting or poisonous have warning colors as well. The white, black, and yellow caterpillar of the monarch butterfly, for example, is poisonous. The orange-and-black-striped caterpillars of the cinnabar moth are poisonous, too.
European magpie moths are boldly patterned at every stage of life. in their youth, their white, black, and red caterpillars ooze foul-tasting fluid that causes predators to spit them out. The caterpillars form cocoons that are glossy black and ringed with yellow stripes. The adult moths that hatch have white, black, and yellow markings.
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