forest in eastern Australia. A peacock spider is waving. He’s tiny, but you can make out a flash of color. You see yellow, red, and blue on the spider’s body. His green eyes sparkle. T e spider isn’t waving at you. He’s waving


I


at another spider on a rock. He’s trying to get her attention. You step closer to get a better look at what


is happening. Next, the male spider liſt s his abdomen. He unfolds two flaps on the sides of his abdomen. Like the bird he’s named for, he spreads


the flaps out like a peacock’s tail feathers. T e flaps are red, orange, blue, and yellow. T ey’re fringed in white. Suddenly, he waves his abdomen like a fan. T is spider isn’t done yet. Now he dances


from side to side. He waves two of his legs. T ese black legs are tipped in white. He puts on quite a show. Yet the other spider loses interest. She scurries off . T e show is over. T is spider is just one of many brightly


colored animals. T ey’re colorful for a reason. Some, like the peacock spider, use color to show off or to get attention. Others use color as camouflage, or to


hide. Still others use their color as a warning. Color plays an important part in survival. Let’s take a look how.


f you squint, you can see him. You’re in a


Look This Way On the island of Madagascar, you find a large,


male chameleon clinging to a vine. His bumpy skin looks dry and leathery. It’s mostly green, with bands of red, white, and yellow. He sits very still. Only his eyes move. One


looks up to the leſt . T e other looks down to the right. Suddenly, both eyes point in the same direction. T ey focus on a spot just over your leſt shoulder. T is lizard looks mad. You slowly turn. Another chameleon sits on


a tree branch behind you. It opens its mouth. You might want to step out of the way.


You’re about to be in the middle of a chameleon showdown. Chameleons are territorial. T ey don’t like to share space with other chameleons.


Chameleon Showdown In seconds, the first chameleon begins to


change. He puff s up his body so that it looks bigger. His colors deepen. His red stripes become darker. Blue stripes appear. He opens his mouth wide. You can see that the inside of his mouth is bright yellow. He hisses. T e second chameleon moves back. T en its


colors change, too. Its green skin fades. It turns light brown. Suddenly, it runs away. Most chameleons use color to talk to other


animals. Darker colors can mean fear or anger. A pale color might signal defeat. Dark or light, it’s color that delivers the chameleon’s message.


This chameleon can send a message with its colorful skin.


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