Does Cryptic Coloration Affect Empusa pennata’s Success in Survival ?
Introduction
Empusa pennata, also known as Conehead Mantis, has a thin and large light weighted body along with a pair of wings. They mostly inhabit scrubs, perennial herbs and dry grasslands. It uses its raptorial forelegs to capture preys. They also compete for mates through visual, acoustic and chemical signals. Apart from the adaptations for competition for mates, they possess a significant trait for survival, which is known as cryptic coloration. Cryptic coloration acts as a predation strategy for species to physically resembling their environment, by making them less visible to prey or detection by other organisms. Crypsis occurs in different ways: visual, olfactory…show more content… 2006). The study tested for the effectiveness of disruptive coloration, and discovered that even if some colour patches do not match perfectly with the surroundings and display a disruptive contrast effect, animals can still posses a degree of camouflage (Cuthill C Innes et al. 2006). There’s ambiguity in the effectiveness of animals’ appearance compare to their cryptic colorisation in the adaptations for survival. Do cryptic coloration overrides the significance of organism’s appearance to avoid predation? There can be a small, but significant, fitness cost to camouflage patterns. Given that Empusa pennata has raptorial forelegs and a thin body in capturing its prey, it also has a physical resemblance to a “stick” that protects them from predators. If artificial Empusa pennata-like preys and dead mealworms are introduced into a field and are observed over a given time period, the number of Empusa pennata will remain the same because Empusa pennata possesses a high degree of cryptic…show more content… Empusa pennata uses this ability to deceive their predators and preys for their own advantage. The coloration is intended for the use of sexually selected colour patterns. The function of this trait aids them in the competition for mates. Thus, the more vibrant their coloration is, the more likely the individual will attract opposite sex. Also, enabling them to mate with healthy individuals, which seem more “attractive” as mates. Some species utilises coloration to serve as an attraction, but some uses it to blend into surroundings to minimise the chances of detection. Under circumstances, some species can alter the colour by physiological and morphological mechanisms(Chapman R.F. et al.
