|
My
Yard 1
Hello and welcome to my yard!
I would like to introduce myself.
I am a syrphid fly.
Have you ever heard of me?
Most people haven’t.
No one ever says, “Hey, look. It’s a syrphid
fly.” Do
you know why? Let’s
see if you can figure it out. I
am going to describe myself. I
am a small insect who flies. I
am yellow and black. I
have short antennae and large eyes.
I get my food from the nectar and pollen in flowers. Who does that sound like? You’re right! I sound like a honeybee. There are a few
differences between a honeybee and me, though.
I do not make honey, I have only two wings instead
of four, and, most importantly, I do not have a stinger! When people see me, they
run away because they think I will sting them, but I can’t. Looking like a honeybee
protects me. Everyone
thinks I am dangerous, so they stay away.
It’s a pretty good trick, isn’t
it? This kind of
trick is called mimicry. Mimicry
helps a lot of creatures survive by making them look like something
else. Let’s walk around the yard
and I will show you some more examples of mimicry. 2
Look!
Do you see that twig?
If you watch it for a minute, you will see it start
to move. It is
actually an insect! It
looks like a twig so no one will bother it.
On that bush there are a lot of leaves, right? Look carefully. One of them is not a leaf
at all. It is a
katydid, a kind of insect that looks like a leaf.
Yikes! Is
that a snake? No. It is a hawk moth. The spots on its wings
actually look like a snake’s head!
Do you see why mimicry helps these insects survive? For some, it makes them
look like something a predator would not want to
eat. For others, it
looks like something that would hurt the predator.
In both cases, the predator
stays away and the insect survives! 3
My yard is pretty interesting, isn’t it? Mimicry isn’t
the only adaptation animals have to help them survive.
They also use camouflage.
That means that their coloring helps them hide from
predators who might want to eat them.
That frog is a brownish green color so he can hide
in the bushes. The
squirrel is the same color as the tree he is running up. That lizard can actually
change colors, depending on where he is standing.
Some animals can even change colors with the seasons
so they can hide in bushes in the spring and in the snow in winter. (Those animals
don’t live here in 4 Now it’s your turn. Take some time to look around your yard and see if you can find any hidden animals or animals that look like other things. They can be pretty tricky, but that’s how they survive!
1 What is this selection mostly about? A
All animals
use mimicry to survive. B Animals survive because of their adaptations. C Green animals use camouflage.
2 Why do you think people stay away from syrphid flies? F The people think the syrphid flies move too quickly. G Syrphid flies look like snakes. H The syrphid flies sting people. J The people think the syrphid flies are bees.
3 What is the main idea of paragraph 3? A Some toads are greenish brown. B Mimicry is when an animal looks like something it is not. C Camouflage helps animals hide. D
It does not snow often in 4 Since a katydid looks like a leaf - F everyone thinks it’s a bug G it lives in the snow H most people don’t notice it J all leaves are really bugs
5 The syrphid fly in this story is - A knowledgeable B rude C a bee D camouflaged
(c) Overlap Teaching Publications 2006 All rights reserved |