Insects use various types HAIR RESTORE of behaviour, chemical defences, mimetic, aposematic or cryptic appearances as anti-predatory strategies.Among insects, carabid beetles of the genus Brachinus are distasteful prey because they discharge an irritating “cloud” of quinones when threatened.These beetles live in aggregations and adopt warning (conspicuous pattern) colours and chemicals to create a template that is easily learnt by predators.
Another carabid beetle, Anchomenus dorsalis, mimics the colours and cuticular profile of Brachinus and is usually found in Brachinus aggregations.In this paper we report results from laboratory observations hair clips on feeding choice of the following natural predators - Crocidura leucodon (Insectivora: Soricidae), Ocypus olens (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) and Podarcis sicula (Reptilia: Lacertidae) - on carabid beetle species.Comparing the number of attacks of predators towards aposematic and non-aposematic prey, there was a statistically significant preference towards non-aposematic prey.