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Chapter 4 (Continued)
The Language Of Colours
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| A
small, leaf-shaped frog blends in with the substratum of a forest
in Malaysia. The frog is best camouflaged when viewed from above
- that is, from the angle at which the predator is most likely
to view it.1 In the picture above is a frog
of another species, which appears like part of the tree. It
is quite difficult to distinguish both living things from the
environment. |
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In the
daytime, or during the hours when predators are most active,
the majority of mimetic animals remain immobile. Even the slightest
movement could betray their whereabouts. The sensory apparatus
of a predator is extremely sensitive to movement. For instance,
this Brazilian grasshopper is indistinguishable from the blades
of grass upon which it has landed.2 |
| Pictured
to right is a stick insect. Stick insects camouflage themselves
in order to escape their predators. Mimetic ability, however,
is not confined to adult insects in myriapods; the eggs are
also camouflaged. On the ground, they look very much like vegetable
seeds.3It is impossible for a living creature
to create colours in its body so as to be the same as its environment
or to make its shape resemble that of another species. Allah,
Who is their Creator, has given these features to all camouflaging
creatures. |
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| In the photographs
grasshoppers are seen imitating leaves. A central vein and
two symmetrical halves on two sides of this vein, which are
present in the general structure of leaves, are also fully
present in these grasshoppers as seen in the photographs. |
| The
patterns on the grasshopper on the right are very similar
to traces of a kind of parasitic fungus on leaves. In addition,
since its long legs could betray a grasshopper's presence,
the legs of some grasshoppers, as is the case with the grasshopper
seen here, are almost transparent.4 Surely,
the animals themselves do not consciously choose to do these
imitations that are so perfect as not to leave out the dry
parts and folds of a leaf. Allah, Who creates everything perfectly,
created the grasshoppers. |
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1.Marco Ferrari, Colors for Survival,
Barnes and Noble Books, New York, 1992, p.85 
2.Marco Ferrari, Colors for Survival, Barnes and Noble Books, New
York, 1992, p.25
3.Marco Ferrari, Colors for Survival, Barnes and Noble Books, New
York, 1992, p.38
4.Marco Ferrari, Colors for Survival, Barnes and Noble Books, New
York, 1992, p.48-49
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