Camouflage that puts human efforts to shame

I can remember, during my military service, having to camouflage vehicles and installations to prevent enemy reconnaissance aircraft from photographing them, or strike aircraft from bombing them. We used good old-fashioned camouflage netting, updated to mask the infra-red heat signature of our vehicles, and added sticks, leaves and other natural debris to make them look more natural. Some efforts were more successful than others. (You knew if yours worked – you didn’t get bombed!)

A post in The Conservation Report has some fascinating photographs of insects, amphibians and fish that take the art of camouflage to a whole new level, making us look like bumbling amateurs. I won’t steal CR’s thunder, but to give you a foretaste, here are three examples.

Here’s a Leaf Mimic Katydid:

And a South American Leaf Fish from the Amazon:

Finally, somewhere in this picture is a Leaf Mimic Frog. Can you see it? (Click the picture for a larger view.)

There are more pictures at the link, including a close-up of the Leaf Mimic Frog. You won’t believe it when you see it! Very interesting viewing.

Peter