(light music) (water flowing) - [Narrator] Insects are perfect snacks for many creatures.

To live another day, insects have a lot of tricks.

They can fly or run away fast.

They can have prickly hairs or armor like these beetles that make them tough to eat.

Some shout, "Don't touch," with their bright colors because they taste really awful or have a powerful sting.

Some insects don't want to be found.

They hide tucked away in crevices and secret places.

Others hide in plain sight, pretending to be something they're not, like a thorn of a bush or a moving pile of trash.

Or they blend right in the background.

That's a special kind of hiding called camouflage.

Could you be walking by insects hidden in plain sight in these grasses and not even know that they are there?

(light music concludes) (gentle music) "Camouflage," on this episode of "Nature WY."

- [Announcer] "Nature WY" is brought to you in part by the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] Certain colors like Elijah's red shirt and this hot pink kayak really stand out against the many greens and golden browns of nature.

Other colors help animals disappear into the background - [Breanna] This way.

- [Tour Guide] Come back, come back!

Look, look, look.

Come, come, come!

- What is it?

- [Breanna] They must have found something.

- I want you to see if you can find some caterpillars in this bush.

Look around, look around.

- Is it poisonous?

- Right there!

- Right there.

- You're right, you're right.

- It's a small one.

- Yes.

- [Child] He's eating.

This one's eating.

- [Breanna] I see two so far.

Has anybody found a third?

- I found three.

- No.

- There's three.

- I see a third.

I see a third.

- You do?

- Right over there.

- [Breanna] Do you see Elijah's third?

- Oh yeah, I see it.

- Oh yeah, now I see it.

- Elijah, you have eyes like a bird does.

Birds would be searching for a snack that way.

Looking really carefully.

I can't believe I walked right by that bush and I didn't see anything.

I'm so glad you guys called us back.

I think I need to walk a little slower and look a little bit more careful like a bird.

(chuckles) - [Narrator] Birds sing sweetly and are beautiful to look at, but to a caterpillar, birds are really scary.

(dramatic music) (bird twittering) - Fact: A Black-capped Chickadee may bring 300 caterpillars to her nest in a single day.

- I'm kind of curious about these insects and why they would be the color of that shrub.

What do you think, Asher?

- They're the color of the shrub because they need to be camouflaged, because of predators.

- Exactly.

(gentle music) (children laughing) Ooh, look at this.

(gentle music concludes) You guys, I was thinking that we should think like insects today but it makes me a little nervous because I know there are a lot of predators out here.

One of them was just over there.

Birds.

You know what else makes me nervous?

Birds have really good hunting skills.

So when we're thinking like insects, what might we do to help stop us from becoming breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

- Camouflage your whole entire body into one thing.

- Camouflage your body.

Any other ideas?

Yes.

- You can also frighten them.

- Frighten them.

How might you frighten a bird?

A big bird?

- Some like mealers or moths have like eyes on their wings.

- [Breanna] It looks like they have big eyes, right?

Why might that scare a bird?

- Because they think it's pretty big.

- Ooh.

So it's looking big instead of being big.

That's clever.

What I would like for you to do is to create an insect that blends into its environment, its habitat, but all of them should have a head, all of them should have a thorax, all of them should have an abdomen.

I have a song to help me remember that.

And do you guys wanna hear it?

I bet you have heard a version of it before.

Have you ever sung "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes?"

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- I have one for bugs.

So we're gonna do head, thorax, which is like the middle, abdomen.

♪ Head and thorax, abdomen, abdomen ♪ ♪ Head and thorax, abdomen, abdomen ♪ Now, normally in this song, I'd sing eyes and ears and mouth and nose.

But what do insects have?

- Compound eyes.

- Do they have eyes?

- Compound Eyes.

- Compound Eyes.

Yes.

So we could sing compound eyes there?

Yes.

How do they feel?

- Antennas.

- Okay.

Antennas?

So we could sing antennas.

Insects have that cool part.

And do they have a skeleton like we have on the inside?

- Exoskeleton.

- Exoskeleton.

Okay.

So you've learned the second part.

So we're gonna do ♪ Head and thorax, abdomen, abdomen ♪ ♪ Point to your head and thorax, abdomen, abdomen ♪ ♪ Compound eyes antenna and exoskeleton ♪ (woman laughing) Ooh, now you're insects.

We're getting into it.

- [Narrator] Can you create a camouflaged insect out of natural materials and a bit of string?

Would a friend pretending to be a sharp-sighted bird be able to find your insect?

- Real camouflage insects look like sticks and grass and leaves.

Are there bugs that look like sticks?

- Yeah.

- Yes, there are.

- Look at this interesting thing right here.

Look at that.

You think that could be a head?

Woo-hoo.

Bet that could make a good part of an insect.

What else could we find?

- Where's the body?

- I don't know.

We're gonna have to find something for the body.

- [Child] What do I use?

- Would you like to hold these two and I'll put this string around or you wanna try this string?

- You do this string.

- All right.

(light music) - How about these antennas?

- Oh, I love that idea.

We've got it.

We've got a head, eyes and antenna.

Much better.

Okay.

- I need legs.

Tiny little sticks.

- [Breanna] It's gonna be a delicate insect.

- [Narrator] For a step-by-step guide to create your own camouflaged insect, visit Wyomingpbs.org/naturewy.

After you've built your insect, it's time to hide it somewhere camouflaged - Ready to hide.

Don't tell anybody you're hiding it and don't show anybody where it is cuz we're gonna be birds next and we're gonna try to find as many as we can find.

So go and hide it.

Look at that!

- It's beautiful - It just blends right in, doesn't it?

That's so incredible.

- [Child] I can't really see it.

Don't look where I'm hiding mine!

- [Narrator] After you've hidden your insect, maybe your bird friends can use their hunting skills to find them.

- Ready?

You need to transform yourself head to toe.

Now you're a bird.

(children tweeting) (Breanna laughing) I've got my bird eyes on.

Do you have your bird eyes on?

(gentle music) (children tweeting) Ooh, look carefully.

(gentle music) - Wow, that was really camouflaged.

- [Breanna] Fabulous job.

I walked by this tree several times and never found that insect.

- [Narrator] Join Science Kids and us at Wyoming PBS and search with eyes like a bird for camouflaged insects in your part of Wyoming.

Head outside, blend in and discover the world of camouflage.

Thanks for watching.

- "Nature WY" is brought to you in part by the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Rocky Mountain Power supporting the growth and vitality of our community.

- [Children] Thank you Rocky Mountain Power Foundation!