Masters of disguise

...incredible ways animals and insects can blend in with their surroundings to either hide from predators or to become predators themselves....

sm_camouflageN326 Stick insect, phasmida, Tandayapa region, Andean cloud forest, Ecuador
sm_camouflageN353 Mossy leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus sikorae), (Gekkonidae family), resting head down, incredibly well camouflaged, on a tree trunk, cutaneous flaps present along...
sm_camouflageN257 Neotropical rainfrog (Pristimantis eriphus), male with characteristic red eyes, Rainfrog family (Craugastoridae), Andean cloud forest, Cosanga, Ecuador Mossy...
sm_camouflageN303 Pink-colored Eulophyllum lobatum in habitat, a leaf katydid mimicing jungle foliage being almost undistinguishable from a real leaf, native to North Borneo,...
smGVA_MY_cv2394_g Leaf Butterfly (Kallima limborgii) using its superb camouflage to remain invisible when percing motionless on a branch, family of brush-footed butterflies...
smGVA_MY_cv0740_g Perfect camouflage of stick insect, Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia
sm_camouflageN371 Tambopata Nature Reserve, Fishing spider of the Genus Dolomedes, perfectly camouflaged against the tree bark, Nursery web spider family (Pisauridae), Madre de...
sm_camouflageN239 (Ceratophrix cornuta), Amazon rainforest, Yasuni National Park, Ecuador
sm_camouflageN369 Orb-weaver belonging to the genus cyclosa, it crafts elaborate fake spider decoys with multiple leges from leaves, debris and dead insects in order to confuse...
smgva_CH_4s2383_g Tawny speckled pug (Eupithecia icterata), Ovronnaz, Valais, Switzerland
sm_camouflageN256 -
smsm_EC_dx1179_g Early instar of caterpillars of an owl butterfly (Caligo sp.) in aline along the inner midrip of a banana leaf, their slender shape helps them to blend in with...
sm_camouflageN221 Jorupe Biological Reserve, tropical dry forest, Western Andean foothills, Ecuador Phyllodactylus reissi
sm_camouflageN349 Gecko Uroplatus phantasticus, (Gekkonidae), endemic to Madagascar, Anjozorobe National Park, Madagascar
smgva_MSC_4s2711_g Harvestman (Opilio canestrinii), an invasive species from the Mediterranean, Ovronnaz, Valais, Switzerland
sm_camouflageN286 Long-spinneret bark spider (Hersiliidae sp} with egg cocon camouflaged on tree bark where it waits to ambush passing prey, the spider has decorated her silken...
sm_camouflageN355 Mossy leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus sikorae), (Gekkonidae family), resting head down, incredibly well camouflaged, on a tree trunk, cutaneous flaps present along...
sm_camouflageN307 Grass cross spider (Argiope catenulata), sitting in the center of its net decorated with a circular zigzag-type band of silk called stabilimentum, Orb-weaver...
smGVA_MY_cv7686_g Kubah Nationalpark, Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia / Kubah National Park, Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia
sm_camouflageN229 Caterpillar of neotropical Hawk moth (Xylophanes chiron), exposing eyespots and a dorsal horn typical for Sphingidae caterpillars, (Spingidae family), Amazon...

All photographs ©Ulrike Fischer
Contact email: ulrikefischer@bluewin.ch