FEATURE HERE’S LOOKING AT POOJOSEPH DOUGLAS MANDLA WHITE, MIN HUI LIU, NATURE PRODUCTION/NATUREPL.COMPlantshaveevolvedallkindsofcreativewaysto
dispersetheirseeds.Perhapsthemostremarkableof
all,though,is a grassinSouthAfrica’sCapeProvince
calledCeratocaryumargenteum, whoseshiny,pellet-
likeseeds(top)mimicthedroppingsofantelopes
(bottom).Withinhours,industriousdungbeetles
scuttleovertorollthe‘droppings’away,buryingthem
intheearth(dungbeetlesburypootouseasa source
offoodthemselves,orfortheirlarvaetoeat).What’s
more,inordertobamboozlethephenomenalsensory
equipmentofthesebeetles,thegrassseedsalsoexude
a chemicalcocktailthatsmellslikeantelopefaeces.
In2015,researchersattheUniversityofCapeTown
discoveredthatthedungbeetleseventuallyrumblethe
ruseanddon’tbotherlayingeggsintheseeds.Butby
thentheseedsaresafelyburied – the ploy works just
long enough to succeed.
Caterpillarsarefast-growingmunchingmachines.Theirflesh
containsmoreproteinthanchicken,soit’snosurprisethey’re
onthemenuofsomanyinsectivorousanimals.TheAsian
swallowtail,orPapilioxuthus, is oneofseveralbutterflies
whosecaterpillarsfightbackbycopyingtheshape,colourand
smellofbirddroppings.Butthemasqueradeis limitedtoyoung
caterpillarsthatdon’tmovearoundmuch,suchastheoneinthis
photo.Eventually,thelarvaearetoolargeandmobiletopass
themselvesoffaspoo,soduringtheirfinalmoulttheyacquire
greencamouflageand,asanextradeterrent,a pairofscaryfake
‘eyes’.“TheAsianswallowtaildisplaysamazingplasticity,”
saysentomologistandBBCpresenterDrRossPiper.“Whenit
needsto,itscaterpillarswapstacticsanddeploysa different
defensivestrategy.”A Japanesestudytestedmodelsofanother
speciesofpoo-mimickingcaterpillar,andfoundthattheyfooled
birdsonlywhencurleduptoresemblecoileddroppings;replica
caterpillarswithstraightbodiesweretoast.It’snotclearif the
swallowtailcaterpillarsalso have to strike uncaterpillar-like
poses in order to survive.�
DUNG DEAL
�SPECIES OR FAECES?