Plants Can Use Odor Camouflage to Trick Insects

The use of camouflage is not just for animals. Plants must also make the most of their available resources to try to hide from predators wherever possible. In other words, Plants Can Use Odor Camouflage to Trick Insects. If anything, plants need it more because even a sloth can escape faster than the typical ficus.

In a Mexican rainforest, researchers analyzed a wide variety of plants and insects. They came to the conclusion that plants can hide their own chemical scents by passing for other plants that insects are less likely to desire to consume.

Plants in a densely populated environment, such as a jungle, can release scents that effectively blend them into the background. They all start to smell the same, making it less likely that insects will be able to distinguish them from the crowd. Instead of having distinctive and unique aromas that will attract predators, they all start to smell the same.