Nature's Amazing Color Matching Ability

Pin It Now! I am in constant admiration of nature's amazing ability to color match.

See if you can spot the little garden buddy I made while watering our lemon tree yesterday.

Do you see him? (Or her. I really have no idea how to determine the sex of an insect.)

If I hadn't had my face in the tree inspecting the baby lemon fruits we are getting, I never would have seen my grasshopper friend.

Even his beady eyes are camouflaged with the spots on the leaf. Simply amazing.

Sometimes we only have to look in our own backyards to realize the extent of nature's beauty and intelligence. How can such a thing as common as a grasshopper sunning itself on a lemon leaf on a warm autumn day be so captivating...so perfect? 

This got me thinking a little bit about insects in general, and how they really do exhibit some of the most amazing colors in the universe. It's no accident that one of the loveliest (in my opinion) color wheels in history was designed by an entomologist. 

Moses Harris' Color Wheel, 1766
(For more info on Harris and his color system click here.)

So next time you're in your backyard, or the park, or the beach, etc. and you come across some uninvited creepy crawly guest, try not to squash it. Take a moment to examine it's beauty. I guarantee, if you look hard enough, you'll find it.