Question:
Passage IV
Insects' lives are very diminutive and they have many enemies, but they must survive long enough to rear and perpetuate their kind. The less insect-like they look, the better their probability of survival. To look "uneatable" by resembling or imitating plants is a deceit widely practised by insects. Mammals hardly ever use this kind of camouflage, but many fish and invertebrates do.
The stick caterpillar is well named. It is hardly discernible from a brown or green twig. This caterpillar is quite familiar and can be found almost anywhere in North America. It is also called "measuring worm" or "inchworm." It walks by arching its body, then stretching out and grasping the branch with its front feet then looping its body again to bring the hind feet forward. When danger threatens, the stick caterpillar stretches its body away from the branch at an angle and remains rigid and still, like a twig, until the danger has passed.
Walking sticks, or stick insects, do not have to assume a rigid, twig-like pose to find protection; they look like inedible twigs in any position. There are many kinds of walking sticks, ranging in size from the few inches of the North American variety to some tropical species that may be over a foot long. When at rest their front legs are stretched out heightening their camouflage. Some of the tropical species are adorned with spines or ridges imitating the thorny bushes or trees in which they live. Leaves also seem to be a favorite object for insects to imitate. Many butterflies can suddenly disappear from view by folding their wings and sitting quietly among the foliage that they resemble.
Q. Which of the following is not true of insect camouflage techniques?
Passage IV
Insects' lives are very diminutive and they have many enemies, but they must survive long enough to rear and perpetuate their kind. The less insect-like they look, the better their probability of survival. To look "uneatable" by resembling or imitating plants is a deceit widely practised by insects. Mammals hardly ever use this kind of camouflage, but many fish and invertebrates do.
The stick caterpillar is well named. It is hardly discernible from a brown or green twig. This caterpillar is quite familiar and can be found almost anywhere in North America. It is also called "measuring worm" or "inchworm." It walks by arching its body, then stretching out and grasping the branch with its front feet then looping its body again to bring the hind feet forward. When danger threatens, the stick caterpillar stretches its body away from the branch at an angle and remains rigid and still, like a twig, until the danger has passed.
Walking sticks, or stick insects, do not have to assume a rigid, twig-like pose to find protection; they look like inedible twigs in any position. There are many kinds of walking sticks, ranging in size from the few inches of the North American variety to some tropical species that may be over a foot long. When at rest their front legs are stretched out heightening their camouflage. Some of the tropical species are adorned with spines or ridges imitating the thorny bushes or trees in which they live. Leaves also seem to be a favorite object for insects to imitate. Many butterflies can suddenly disappear from view by folding their wings and sitting quietly among the foliage that they resemble.
Q. Which of the following is not true of insect camouflage techniques?
Insects' lives are very diminutive and they have many enemies, but they must survive long enough to rear and perpetuate their kind. The less insect-like they look, the better their probability of survival. To look "uneatable" by resembling or imitating plants is a deceit widely practised by insects. Mammals hardly ever use this kind of camouflage, but many fish and invertebrates do.
The stick caterpillar is well named. It is hardly discernible from a brown or green twig. This caterpillar is quite familiar and can be found almost anywhere in North America. It is also called "measuring worm" or "inchworm." It walks by arching its body, then stretching out and grasping the branch with its front feet then looping its body again to bring the hind feet forward. When danger threatens, the stick caterpillar stretches its body away from the branch at an angle and remains rigid and still, like a twig, until the danger has passed.
Walking sticks, or stick insects, do not have to assume a rigid, twig-like pose to find protection; they look like inedible twigs in any position. There are many kinds of walking sticks, ranging in size from the few inches of the North American variety to some tropical species that may be over a foot long. When at rest their front legs are stretched out heightening their camouflage. Some of the tropical species are adorned with spines or ridges imitating the thorny bushes or trees in which they live. Leaves also seem to be a favorite object for insects to imitate. Many butterflies can suddenly disappear from view by folding their wings and sitting quietly among the foliage that they resemble.
Q. Which of the following is not true of insect camouflage techniques?
Show Hint
Check each option against the passage; the correct answer is the one idea that is never mentioned at all.
Updated On: Jul 20, 2026
- Insects look like inedible twigs in any position
- Insects stretch out at rest their front legs
- Insects are adorned with spines or ridges imitating the thorny bushes
- Insects change color to make them invisible
- Insects fold their wings and sit quietly among the foliage
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
This is a "not true" question, so each option has to be checked against the passage one by one, and the one thing the passage never says is the answer.
Option (a): "They look like inedible twigs in any position" - this is stated almost word for word in the passage: "they look like inedible twigs in any position." True, so not the answer.
Option (b): "stretch out at rest their front legs" - the passage says "When at rest their front legs are stretched out heightening their camouflage." True, so not the answer.
Option (c): "adorned with spines or ridges imitating the thorny bushes" - the passage says "Some of the tropical species are adorned with spines or ridges imitating the thorny bushes or trees in which they live." True, so not the answer.
Option (e): "fold their wings and sit quietly among the foliage" - the passage says "Many butterflies can suddenly disappear from view by folding their wings and sitting quietly among the foliage that they resemble." True, so not the answer.
Option (d): "change color to make them invisible" - nowhere in the entire passage is color change mentioned as a camouflage technique. The techniques described are all about shape, posture, rigidity, spines, and folding wings, never about altering skin or wing color. Since this idea is simply absent from the text, it is the statement that is not supported, making (d) the correct answer.
Option (a): "They look like inedible twigs in any position" - this is stated almost word for word in the passage: "they look like inedible twigs in any position." True, so not the answer.
Option (b): "stretch out at rest their front legs" - the passage says "When at rest their front legs are stretched out heightening their camouflage." True, so not the answer.
Option (c): "adorned with spines or ridges imitating the thorny bushes" - the passage says "Some of the tropical species are adorned with spines or ridges imitating the thorny bushes or trees in which they live." True, so not the answer.
Option (e): "fold their wings and sit quietly among the foliage" - the passage says "Many butterflies can suddenly disappear from view by folding their wings and sitting quietly among the foliage that they resemble." True, so not the answer.
Option (d): "change color to make them invisible" - nowhere in the entire passage is color change mentioned as a camouflage technique. The techniques described are all about shape, posture, rigidity, spines, and folding wings, never about altering skin or wing color. Since this idea is simply absent from the text, it is the statement that is not supported, making (d) the correct answer.
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Intended as an instructive note to actors, the Pinter pause was a space for emphasis and breathing room. But it could also be as threatening as a raised fist. Pinter said that writing the word 'pause' into his first play was 'a fatal error'. It is certainly the aspect of his writing that has been most parodied. But no other playwright has consistently used pauses with such rhythmic assurance and to such fine-tuned manipulative effect. Early in his career, Pinter said his work was about 'the weasel under the cocktail cabinet'. Though he later regretted the image, it holds up as a metaphor for the undertow of danger that pervades his work.
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