Aposematic Coloration

Animals have many ways to avoid being eaten by predators. Many use their appearance and behaviors to blend into their surroundings and hide from predators, however, other animals take the opposite approach and stand out!

This interesting approach is called “aposematic coloration.” These animals are covered in bright colors and contrasting patterns to make them extremely visible. It seems like this wouldn’t help them avoid being eaten, but the key is that these bright colors are communicating something: they are dangerous and not tasty to eat.

Monarch butterflies are an example of this. Monarchs are easy to spot because their wings are bright orange with black and white spots. When monarchs are young they eat a plant called milkweed that is toxic to most animals. The toxin stays in their tissues, and although it never hurts the monarch, they become poisonous to animals that prey on them. Poison dart frogs are another common example of aposematic coloration. This is a family of frogs that come in a variety of bright colors and patterns that are also toxic to many predators.

A predator that eats a toxic species will often spit it out because it doesn’t taste good, or get sick, remember the experience, and stop eating the species. Predators may also die from eating the toxic animal, and over several generations this can select for predators that do not eat the species. This makes the recognizable color and toxicity advantageous for the prey species.

Interestingly, there are also prey species that look like toxic species, but aren’t actually toxic. This is called “mimicry.” These animals don’t have to put in the energy or have special adaptations that make them immune to toxins, but because they look like species that are toxic, they can avoid predation.

In this way, some animals stand out to stay safe!