托福口语 Task 4

Today, we're going to talk about how animals use camouflage, but not just for hiding from predators. Actually, some animals use camouflage to help them catch prey. This is called aggressive mimicry. The key idea is that an animal's appearance helps it sneak up on or attract its food. Let me give you two examples. First, consider the leaf-mimicking spider. This spider looks exactly like a dried leaf. It sits on a branch among real leaves. When a butterfly or moth lands near it, the spider slowly moves closer, and the prey doesn't notice because the spider looks just like a harmless leaf. Then, bam, it strikes. Second, there's the flower mantis. This insect looks like a pink orchid flower. It waits on a flower cluster. Bees and other pollinators come to collect nectar, and they don't realize the mantis is a predator. When they get close, the mantis grabs them. So, in both cases, the camouflage isn't for hiding from predators; it's for getting food.