Sometimes when you’re small and delicious you need to have an ace up your sleeve. Eyespot Mimicary is a form of defensive camouflage which is designed to fool predators into thinking there is more to the animal than first anticipated, usually providing sufficient confusion for the prey animal to swiftly exit stage left to make good their escape. It can be seen in all kinds of animals, from wild cats to owls and even insects like this phenomenal Elephant Hawk moth caterpillar I found today.
What’s more fascinating is the process of evolution which brings these adaptations to fruition, especially considering that a elephant hawk moth, or its caterpillar form, are likely to be conceptually unaware of what an eyeball is. Thus demonstrating a selection pressure and evolution driven not through sexual preference, but through selection pressures from predators.
