Disruptive coloration and background pattern matching

Innes C. Cuthill (), Martin Stevens, Jenna Sheppard, Tracey Maddocks, C. Alejandro Párraga and Tom S. Troscianko
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Innes C. Cuthill: University of Bristol
Martin Stevens: University of Bristol
Jenna Sheppard: University of Bristol
Tracey Maddocks: University of Bristol
C. Alejandro Párraga: University of Bristol
Tom S. Troscianko: University of Bristol

Nature, 2005, vol. 434, issue 7029, 72-74

Abstract: Abstract Effective camouflage renders a target indistinguishable from irrelevant background objects. Two interrelated but logically distinct mechanisms for this are background pattern matching (crypsis1,2) and disruptive coloration: in the former, the animal's colours are a random sample of the background1,2; in the latter, bold contrasting colours on the animal's periphery break up its outline. The latter has long been proposed as an explanation for some apparently conspicuous coloration in animals3,4, and is standard textbook material. Surprisingly, only one quantitative test5 of the theory exists, and one experimental test of its effectiveness against non-human predators6. Here we test two key predictions: that patterns on the body's outline should be particularly effective in promoting concealment and that highly contrasting colours should enhance this disruptive effect. Artificial moth-like targets were exposed to bird predation in the field, with the experimental colour patterns on the ‘wings’ and a dead mealworm as the edible ‘body’. Survival analysis supported the predictions, indicating that disruptive coloration is an effective means of camouflage, above and beyond background pattern matching.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03312

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