Posted: Jan 20, 2011 7:31 pm
Passer wrote:But the bug resembling a leaf seems a bit of a stretch.
I suppose you are another victim of that old canard, "How useful can be half of a [insert trait or body part]?"
Indeed, an imperfect camouflage is useful: Under conditions of bad sight, or when the predator is in a hurry, or has already eaten a bit... And so it goes on, with every slight modification favoured if it means an ever so slight advantage. Until the animal gets to a stage where even the best-sighted predator has a hard time finding it even though it sits right under the predator's nose.
