Coloration Adaptations By Cristian Castro, Nathaniel Sabori, and Preston Seidner

Deceptive Coloration Deceptive coloration is when an organism's color fools either its predators or prey. There are two types of deceptive coloration: camouflage and mimicry. warning- a statement or event that indicates a possible or impending danger, problem, or other unpleasant situation mimicry- the action or art of imitating someone or something typically in order to entertain or ridicle

Camouflage Camouflage helps an organism blend in with its surroundings. Camouflage can be colors or patterns or both. When organisms are camouflaged, they are harder to find. This means predators have to spend longer finding them. That's a waste of energy!

Mimicry Some animals and plants look like other things, they mimic them. Mimicry is another type of deceptive coloration. It can protect the mimic from predators or hide the mimic from prey. There are three characters to mimicry The Model - the species or object that is copied. The Mimic - looks and acts like another species or object. The Dupe- the tricked predator or prey.

Advertising Coloration When animals and plants use color to be noticed it is called advertising coloration. Advertising coloration can be used to either warn or attract animals.

Pollination The bright colors of flowers and berries are advertising coloration that attracts animals. Flowers need to be pollinated to reproduce. Bees and hummingbirds are attracted to bright colors and will pollinate the flowers.

Attraction Color is also used to attract mates. Many male birds like the northern cardinal are brightly colored to attract females. Bright feathers can be an indication of how healthy the bird is.

Warning Advertising color is also used to warn animals away. The ladybug has bright orange wings with black spots. It’s coloration warns predators that the ladybug tastes awful.

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