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Animalia >Arthropoda >Insecta >Orthoptera >Tetrigidae >Criotettix >

The grass hopper Criotettix japonicus living in a wetland performs ¡Èdeath mimicry¡É when attacked by a frog. A frog generally swallows the prey as a whole after prey capture. So, a locust cannot deceive a frog by pretending being dead. Actually, when a locust is caught by a frog, its entire body stiffens and its hind legs are fully extended. This makes it hard for a frog to swallow the locust as a whole. Spines of the locust may also get stuck in the mouth of the frog. As a result, the frog generally spits the locust out (control video image). When the hind legs of a locust are experimentally tied so that the locust can not extend them, it is easily swallowed by a frog (treatment video image). These experimental results suggest that ¡Èdeath mimicry¡É in the locust do not function to deceive frogs. (translated by Asoh)

(Data No.momo040902cj01b)

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