You'd Prefer An Argonaute

A new article in the August issue of National Geographic gives me another reason to embrace natural selection–um, despite my many fitness shortcomings. The Art of Deception describes some survival trickery employed by various inhabitants of the Panamanian rainforest and elsewhere, and being in National Geographic, there are a bunch of nice pictures with educational captions.

My favorites: Cathedra serrata, the insect with alarmingly large, fake insect eyes–because it’s always good to have a backup plan; and the nematode that, visually speaking, turns your garden variety Cephalotes atratus into a delicious cherry-ant, an irresistible Central American rainforest hors d’oeuvre.

The Art of Deception, National Geographic, pgs. 70-87, August 2009. Words by Natalie Angier, Photographs by Christian Ziegler.