Code Breaking

The extent to which organisms will go to just survive has only been understood relatively recently, using techniques that extend beyond camouflage and biomimicry. Code breaking refers to the exploitation of another organism's innate behaviors and tendencies and is even used by humans in practices like earthworm grunting. It is demonstrated across almost all species, although expressed in different ways. While there are no official names for the different types of code breaking, they can be classified into four simple categories.

Interception of Signals

This is demonstrated when an organism intercepts signals intended for another animal to gain an advantage, such as finding prey or avoiding predators. For example, fringe-lipped bats (Trachops cirrhosus) listen to the mating calls of male túngara frogs and use

those calls to locate and prey on them. This technique helps animals maximize their chances of survival (Zuk and Kolluru 2005).

Interference

Interference, similar to the interception of signals, occurs when an animal deliberately intercepts and interferes with another’s communication signals. Certain bat species have been observed producing ultrasonic signals that jam the echolocation calls of rival bats during insect-hunting, reducing their foraging success. This tactic is often used in hunting in order to put rival species at a disadvantage. (Corcoran and Conner 2014).

Mimicry

Mimicry involves copying another species’ signals to manipulate other animals. In aggressive mimicry, predators such as bolas spiders release chemicals that mimic female moth pheromones to lure male moths as prey. Another famous example is the anglerfish, which uses a glowing lightto attract fish as prey. This manipulative use of communication demonstrates how some animals have evolved to exploit the signaling habits of other species. (Ruxton et al. 2018).

Sensory Exploitation

Sensory exploitation is similar to mimicry in that it manipulates an animal's innate sensory biases. There are some species that evolved to exhibit traits that tap into these biases and behaviors. Guppies have a liking for the color orange, due to its association with ripe fruit. With these preferences, male guppies with orange spots can cheat their competitors and gain an upper hand, which allows them to have more chances to mate. (Endler and Basolo 1998). Unlike some of the other categories, this can be used within a species helpfully, promoting population growth.

References

Corcoran, Aaron J., and William E. Conner. “Bats Jamming Bat Sonar.” Science, vol. 346, no. 6210, 2014, pp. 745–747. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1259512.

Endler, John A., and Alexandra L. Basolo. “Sensory Ecology, Receiver Bias and Sexual Selection.” Trends in Ecology & Evolution, vol. 13, no. 10, 1998, pp. 415–420. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01471-2

Ruxton, Graeme D., et al. Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Warning Signals and Mimicry. 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2018.

Wheeler, Brandon C. “Deceptive Alarm Calling in Tufted Capuchin Monkeys.” Biology Letters, vol. 5, no. 6, 2009, pp. 708–710. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2009.0332.

Zuk, Marlene, and Gurinder S. Kolluru. “Exploitation of Sexual Signals by Predators and Parasitoids.” The Quarterly Review of Biology, vol. 80, no. 4, 2005, pp. 415–438. https://doi.org/10.1086/498281