Introduction to Animal Camouflage and Tricks

An ant hurries over the rocky ground. It pauses beside a dark pebble to clean a bit of dust off its antenna. Unfortunately for the ant, this is the last thing it will ever do. Because what looks like a pebble is actually an assassin bug in disguise.

In the animal kingdom, survival is the name of the game—and not everything is as it seems. A number of animals rely on particularly clever tricks to fool predators or prey. A baby bird mimics a poisonous caterpillar. A moth escapes bats by making sounds that interfere with the bats' echolocation. A tiny rain forest spider builds a big spider "puppet" out of bits of dead leaves, insect parts, and other items.

Find out more about some of nature's most bizarre and bloodthirsty con artists and meet the scientists who are working to figure out just how they pull off their amazing tricks.