Threat display facts for kids

Dog making threat display

A threat display is anything that an animal does to scare away other animals. A dog will bare its teeth and growl. A cat will hiss. A snake will coil up, raise its head, and move back and forth to point itself at any big animal that approaches it.

Cat making threat display by hissing and making its hair stand up

Many animals have threat displays that make them look bigger. A lion's mane will stand up, making it look much larger and more powerful. Humans may raise both hands, spread wide, above their heads. Bears will stand on their hind legs, raise their front legs, and show their teeth while growling.

Images for kids

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  Spirama helicina resembling the face of a snake in a deimatic or bluffing display

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  Deimatic display: Callistoctopus macropus generates a bright brownish red colour with white oval spots when disturbed.

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  Frill-necked lizard faces predators, making itself look big with head frills, raising its body and waving its tail.

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  Deimatic display of the phasmid Peruphasma schultei

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  Threat pose of the phasmid Haaniella dehaanii

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  An adult female Mediterranean mantis, Iris oratoria, in threat pose

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  Female eyed hawkmoth, Smerinthus ocellatus, mounted to show the large eyespots

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  Speiredonia spectans resting mimicking a brooding head

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  Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii flashing its wings in deimatic pose

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  A fine large "Phasma" illustrated by George Robert Gray in 1833, showing cryptic resting pose and dramatic wing flash

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  Belly of the spider Poecilotheria regalis. The bright yellow forelegs are used in deimatic displays.

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  Scorpion's threat display with pincers spread wide, abdomen raised to present sting.

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  Namaqua chameleon showing threat display with dewlap

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  Colombian four-eyed frog, Pleurodema brachyops.

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  Lowland streaked tenrec, Hemicentetes semispinosus erects spines on head and body when threatened.

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  Eurasian eagle owl, Bubo bubo, erects the feathers on its neck to make itself appear larger

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  A Sunbittern, Eurypyga helias, opening its wings to display two large eye spots when threatened.

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  Rattlesnake raising rattle on tail, drawn by St. George Mivart, On The Genesis of Species, 1871. The rattle may both startle inexperienced predators and warn off experienced ones.

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  Garden tiger moth, Arctia caja, displays startling bright pattern of black spots on orange-red hindwings. The insect is bitter-tasting, so the pattern may be aposematic as well as deimatic.

See also

In Spanish: Comportamiento deimático para niños