Introduction Introduction Introduction Introduction Introduction Imagine you’re a spy carrying secret Imagine you’re a spy carrying secret Imagine you’re a spy carrying secret documents You’re aboard a train traveling deep into foreign documents You’re aboard a train traveling deep into foreign documents You’re aboard a train traveling deep into foreign documents You’re aboard a train traveling deep into foreign documents You’re aboard a train traveling deep into foreign territory Enemy agents will be waiting at the station And territory Enemy agents will be waiting at the station And territory Enemy agents will be waiting at the station And they’ll be looking for you they’ll be looking for you they’ll be looking for you You adjust your wig and slip on a pair of glasses As the train You adjust your wig and slip on a pair of glasses As the train You adjust your wig and slip on a pair of glasses As the train You adjust your wig and slip on a pair of glasses As the train pulls into the station you wrap a thick scarf around your neck and pulls into the station you wrap a thick scarf around your neck and pulls into the station you wrap a thick scarf around your neck and pulls into the station you wrap a thick scarf around your neck and pulls into the station you wrap a thick scarf around your neck and chin The enemy agents are there as expected They’re glancing chin The enemy agents are there as expected They’re glancing chin The enemy agents are there as expected They’re glancing chin The enemy agents are there as expected They’re glancing back and forth between the disembarking passengers and a photo back and forth between the disembarking passengers and a photo back and forth between the disembarking passengers and a photo back and forth between the disembarking passengers and a photo they’re clutching A photo of you A tough-looking agent stares right at you Then his eyes slide A tough-looking agent stares right at you Then his eyes slide A tough-looking agent stares right at you Then his eyes slide past to the face of the person behind you You walk on smiling past to the face of the person behind you You walk on smiling secretly to yourself Your disguise worked In books and movies spies often conceal their identity with In books and movies spies often conceal their identity with clever costumes masks and makeup But the most amazing masters of disguise are in nature not novels
Take camouflage That’s the ability to hide by blending in with one’s surroundings Many animals are so well camouflaged that they are all but impossible to see in their natural habitat And then there’s mimicry where an animal is disguised as something else a rock a thorn a nasty stinging insect and gains protection or some sort of advantage as a result The masters of disguise you’ll meet in this book however take the art of deception to new heights They have built on the basics of camouflage and mimicry with sounds scents movements and a host of special skills These talented tricksters are able to dupe hoodwink and bamboozle other animals in absolutely amazing ways Can you find the owl in this picture The colors and patterns in this owl’s feathers make them a near-perfect match to tree bark The patterns also break up the outlines of the bird which makes spotting it harder still 5
Chapter 1 THE MASTER Assassin bug Acanthaspis petax a k a the Corpse Collector THE DISGUISE A big backpack of dead ants WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT Africa Malaysia and the Philippines 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 The bug strikes so quickly that its movements are a blur It grabs the ant with powerful front legs Then it plunges its needlelike mouth into the ant’s body and injects a paralyzing poison laced with digestive juice The ant dies almost instantly The bug waits a moment to give the
digestive juice a chance to work Then it sucks out the ant’s liquefied insides leaving little more than an empty shell That empty shell might not seem like something worth keeping But the assassin bug’s table scraps are the key to its disguise Using its hind legs the bug heaves the dead ant up onto its back to join at least a dozen other dead ants already there The bodies of the deceased are all stuck together thanks to a are all stuck together thanks to a sticky substance that oozes from sticky substance that oozes from the bug’s back The assassin the bug’s back The assassin bug hides under this pile of dead ants which it wears like a dead ants which it wears like a big bulging backpack With its latest victim glued With its latest victim glued into place the assassin bug goes back to hunting It resumes its post beside the path that the ants are using to travel to and from their nest No doubt another ant will nest No doubt another ant will be along shortly Chances are be along shortly Chances are good that it too will be fooled good that it too will be fooled by the assassin bug’s bizarre by the assassin bug’s bizarre camouflage and will become part camouflage and will become part of it as well This extreme close-up shows an assassin bug’s This extreme close-up shows an assassin bug’s proboscis the mouthpart it uses to inject ants proboscis the mouthpart it uses to inject ants with paralyzing poison The rounded blue with paralyzing poison The rounded blue colored structures are the bug’s eyes colored structures are the bug’s eyes 7
