BIOL 1902 Lecture 3: Physical/ Chemical Defences (Animal)
6 Feb 2019
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Eyespots can be startle patterns if revealed suddenly, or in the case of eyes always being on the animal on display, make the animal appear larger than it is. Startle patterns have a second function - to deflect the attack of the animal to a non-vital part. Some butterflies have tails" that look like the head of the animal to deflect the attack of the predator to a non-vital part of their body. Hairstreak butterflies have the tiny thick antenna (tail) to deflect the attack. Canadian tiger swallowtail butterflies have it as well. Autotomy is having body parts that can be discarded and grown back, typically for distraction. Five lined skinks have tails that disconnect upon contact and move around a few seconds to distract the predator, allowing the skink to escape (grows back, but not as long), this is autotomy. Some animals have body armor for defense making it hard to bite into them and such.
