NATURE'S PRETENDERS

by Alice L. Hopf ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 24, 1979

Walkingsticks look like the plants they walk on, certain orchids lure wasps by imitating the female wasp while others ape wasps' common prey, certain beetles simulate the pheromones of two different types of ants who care for them in different seasons, and female fireflies imitate the flashes of other species in order to feast on the unsuspecting males. Chapter by chapter, Hopf discusses several different animals and some plants which ""pretend"" in one way or another in order to obtain services or mislead predators or prey. Many of the examples are interesting, as are the superior black-and-white photos, but some of the reports are disappointing--a general description of the grouse, for example, which merely mentions in passing that she fakes a broken wing to distract nest robbers. Hopf cites the gorilla for his chest-thumping display, classed here as a ruse because tie is really a gentle herbivore, and her general account of the possum mentions his habit of playing dead; but she doesn't look any further into either habit though more could profitably be said. A little of this, then, and a little of that-but none of the organizing perspective and edifying distinctions of Patent's more stimulating Animal and Plant Mimicry (p. 15).

Pub Date: July 24, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION