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Journalism of Courage
The animal kingdom isn’t always about strength, speed, or sharp teeth. Sometimes survival comes down to one simple skill: being a good liar.
From birds that trick others into raising their young to spiders that perfume the air with false promises, nature is full of expert con artists. These strategies may seem cruel, but they’re products of evolution. Trickery saves energy, increases survival, and ensures the next generation thrives.
Whether it’s a cuckoo chick outcompeting its nestmates or a drongo stealing a hard-won meal, deception in the wild is often the difference between life and death. Here are some of nature’s most notorious tricksters and how they pull off their scams.
Imagine raising a child that isn’t yours, without ever knowing it. That’s the life of many songbirds tricked by the common cuckoo. This bird lays its egg in another species’ nest, and the unsuspecting parents raise the chick as their own. Some cuckoos even lay eggs so similar in colour and pattern to their host’s that it’s almost impossible to tell the difference. By the time the foster parents realise something is wrong, their own chicks are often gone.
In the summer nights of North America, male fireflies flash signals to attract mates. But not all of them end in romance. Females of the Photuris genus copy these flashes to lure unsuspecting males closer. When the hopeful males arrive, expecting courtship, they are swiftly eaten. To make matters worse, the females steal the males’ defensive chemicals and use them to protect themselves from predators. Love, in this case, is literally deadly.
Unlike most spiders, which build intricate webs, the bolas spider employs a different strategy. It releases chemicals that mimic the scent of female moths. Male moths, drawn by the “perfume,” come flying in, only to be caught by the spider’s swinging sticky line, much like a fisherman casting a lure. It’s a deadly combination of disguise and patience.
Lurking in the muddy rivers of the American South is a turtle with a sinister trick. The alligator snapping turtle opens its mouth wide, showing a pink, worm-like tongue. Fish, fooled into thinking they’ve found a snack, swim right in. One snap of the turtle’s massive jaws, and the hunter becomes the hunted.
Deep in Iran lives a snake whose tail ends in a bulb and wiry scales that move like the legs of a spider. Hungry birds swoop down to snatch the “spider,” only to find themselves in the strike zone of the waiting viper. This is one of the most extraordinary cases of deception in nature, an animal using its own body as bait.
Coral reefs are bustling cities, and like any city, they have cleaners. The bluestreak cleaner wrasse is famous for picking parasites off bigger fish. But the false cleanerfish has found a way to exploit this trust. It mimics the wrasse’s appearance and movements. Instead of offering a cleaning service, it sneaks in a painful bite, leaving its “clients” scarred and confused.
In southern Africa, fork-tailed drongos are notorious thieves. They watch meerkats and other birds dig up food, then sound alarm calls that mimic the cries of predators. Startled, the victims drop their hard-earned meal and run for safety. The drongo swoops in and steals it. What’s impressive is that they don’t just cry wolf all the time, they mix genuine alarms with false ones to keep their credibility intact.
In the darkness of the deep ocean, light is everything. Female anglerfish carry a glowing lure on their heads, thanks to bioluminescent bacteria. Smaller fish and squid, curious about the glow, come too close, and are swallowed whole. Some anglerfish can even eat prey larger than themselves. It’s one of nature’s most haunting deceptions, played out in the pitch-black deep sea.
Among tropical flowers in Southeast Asia, one “flower” hides a secret. The orchid mantis looks so much like a petal that pollinators approach without hesitation. Instead of pollen, they find razor-fast jaws. Researchers believe this floral disguise not only helps the mantis catch insects but also keeps it hidden from predators.
