Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-10
ANIMALS IN DISGUISE.
Creatures Which Live in Fancy Dress
for Very Good Reasons.
L Nall

Creatures Which Live in Fancy Dress
for Very Good Reasons.
From the London Mail
There are many animals which may be
fairly said to live In fancy dress. Life to
them Is one long masquerade, and the dom
inc which preserves them from recognition
Is seldom or never removed. For some OF
them want to kill other animals, and the
rest are, above all things, anxious to avoid
being killed themselves. And they find
that both these objects are furthered by
disguise.
There are certain crabs, for example.
which have the strongest possible objection
to publicity. No Violet hides its modest
head more pers:stently than they. They
do not want to be known as crabs at all.
They much prefer to be regarded by the
world at large as punches OF seaweeds, or
clusters of haIf-grown sponge. SO they de-
liberateiy turn the upper portions of their
shells into submarine back gardens. They
not only permit and encourage seaweeds
and sponges to grow there, but carefully
and laboriously fix them in position, pre-
pairing little holes for their reception, and
scientifically packing their roots away. just
like gardener when planting out geran-
iumS in spring. And that they do this with
an eye to effect is shown, by the fact that
If they lurk among seaweeds they decorate
their backs with seaweed and not with
sponges and vice versa Their great idea
is to harmonic exactly with their sur
roundings.
Some of the hermit crabs have hit upon
better plan still. They have discovered N
some mysterious way that fishes, however
hungry, will never interfere with sea
anemones. For the mouth OF a fish is sem
sitive, and sea anemones sting. So they en-
courage two or three of these creatures TO
settle down upon the whelk shells in which
they hide Their unprot ected tails. The ar
rangement is satisfactory to both parties.
for the timid little hermit is saved from
the unwelcome attentions Of the fishes,
while the anemones share in the meals Of
the crab. And when they grow too big TO
be altogether desirable as dodgers. he can
always get rid of them by changing his
apartments.
Another creature that Is very good at dis
guises Is the grub of the lacewing fly. The
fly itself is as gentle as a fly can be. All
that it wants to do is to fit about for an
hour or SO at dusk, and then settle down on
the glass of a street lamp and peer curious
ly at the mysterious flame within. But as
a grub it is fierce and biood;hirsty to the
last degree. 1t feeds upon aphides-the
green fly" Of the farmers-which 1t eats
at the rate of about two a minute, while
after an hour Or so Of steady feasting II
seems just about as hungry as 1t was when
1t first began. And as fast as 1t drains its
victims Of its juices 1t arranges their empty
skins in piles upon its own back. No one
ever sees the grub Of a lacewing fly as
nature made it after 1t Is about two days
old. All that you notice Is a small mound
of dry skins moving about with three little
legs sticking out on either side. The Idea
evidently is that birds will fail 20 recognize
1t. They would snap up grub at once as
it sat exposed and unprotected upon leaf.
But they will never trouble themselves
about a heap Of empty skins.
Caddis-iy grubs, which live down at the
bottom of streams and ponds. always make
themselves suits of clothes by sticking va
rious objects together all around their
bodies Some use dead leaves for this pur-
pose: others prefer small stones. or bits OF
twig, or little pieces Of reed, or even live
water snails. which show their disapproval
by trying to crawl off In about four diff
ferent directions, while the caddis grub is
walking along in a fifth And as they
grow bigger they enlarge their garments
from time to time by adding little bits on
in front 1t Is not very easy to make them
undress, for they have queer little pincers
at the ends of their tails by which they
will hold on till they are literally torn In
two But you can induce them to leave
their dwellings by gently prodding them be-
hind with steel knitting needle. And
then, as they wander about, naked and un-
happy, at the bottom OF your aquarium you
can get them to garb themselves afresh in
coats OF many colors by supplying them
with beads, which they forthwith proceed
to arrange in symmetrical rows around
them
Then there is little beetle-known to
entomologists as Georyssus pygmaeus-
which lives on the borders Of rivers and
streams. and prefers to take Its walks
abroad by day. At the same time, it is
from hungry wagtails and clippers. So 1t
carefully clothes Itself with a garment OF
clay and arranges a few grains Of sand
upon its back, the disguise being so ef
| fectual that even the entomologist himself
| not uncommonly passes the beetle by. And
| there is also long-legged grub-Reduvius
| perSonatus Is its name-which wages un-
| ceasing warfare with certain insects un-
| mentionable to ears polite. In order to be
| able to stalk these with greater success, It
| covers both its body and limbs with every
| conceivable kind Of rubbish. You might
| take it for a piece Of fluff, or heap OF
| dust, or tangled mass of spiderweb, or
almost anything in the world but an insect.
| And every time that 1t changes its skin It
| scrapes this rubbish from its cast-on coat.
! and bastenS 1t with the utmost care upon
| the new one. The caterpillar Of the clothes
moth has hit upon the idea of undercloth-
| ing. Not only does 1t attire itself in a
| warm coat of softest fur. but also spins
a vest which Ats closely to its body. Both
| garments. OF course, have to be enlarged
| from time to time. and 1t makes the need
| full alterations by Sitting them down on
| either side. and filling in the gaps with
fresh material.
The examples quoted are a few of the
smaller animals which, for varying rea-
sons. adopt a disguise But larger animals
are often naturally disguised by taking on
the color Of their surroundings. thus de-
ceivtng hunters or enemies in their own
world. Where the animals have not been
endowed with instinct for self-preservation
leading them to make their own DISCUSSES.
nature often does 1t for them. and their
outer garments thus approximate to the
| color Of the hills. crags or forest greenery
In which they live.