Govind Tekale
A groundbreaking global experiment has uncovered why some animals hide while others flaunt bright colors to survive. The study, published in Science magazine this September, shows there’s no single best strategy – it all depends on the local conditions.
Scientists from 21 countries across six continents tested more than 15,000 artificial “moths” to see which colors worked best against bird predators. They placed paper moths with three different color patterns – orange-black warning colors, brown camouflage, or unusual turquoise-black – on trees, each with a mealworm reward.
“For a long time, scientists have wondered why some animals use one defense over the other – and the answer turns out to be complicated,” explains William Allen from Swansea University, a senior author on the study. “The predator community, prey community and habitat are all influential.”
The research shows predator behavior plays the biggest role in which color strategy works best. When birds face tough competition for food, they take more risks – including attacking potentially toxic prey. In these high-competition areas, camouflage worked better than warning colors.
Light levels also matter significantly. Camouflaged prey were more easily spotted and attacked in bright environments compared to warning-colored ones. However, in darker settings, hiding proved more effective.
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“Our findings showed there is no single best color strategy to deter predators, but context is critical,” says Dr. Iliana Medina Guzman from the University of Melbourne, the study’s lead author. “This makes sense when we see animals using so many different camouflage and warning color strategies all over the world.”
The research also tested whether bright colors work simply because they stand out or because predators learn to avoid specific color combinations. They included an unusual turquoise-black pattern alongside the common orange-black warning colors found in nature.
What makes this study unique is its scale. Previous research typically focused on single locations or species, but this experiment used identical methods across 21 sites worldwide. The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Computer Vision Centre contributed by building a computer model that predicted how visible each prey type would be to birds in different environments.
Scientists used these findings to better understand why warning coloration is relatively rare in nature. While camouflage is the most common strategy, warning colors appear in only about 8% of adult butterflies and moths, 8.2% of amphibians, and just 2.7% of birds.
The research helps explain why we see such diverse survival strategies in the animal kingdom and how these strategies evolved based on local conditions rather than any universal rule.
