It's obvious that all the social butterflies among humans must be practising their best dance moves for the New Year's party. To match those killer moves, they must have shopped for a show-stopper ensemble. Of course, there will be preening and priming, gyming and beauty parlour visits. These activities will finally culminate in putting out your best courtship display during the party, complicated by the jungle-like confusion and noise of the pub. But, things in nature work differently.

Dressing up or draping up in a suitable body colour, is a matter of years of evolution followed by the impacts of season and hormones. The varied body colourations, elaborate patterns and seasonal variations seen among animals are integral to their survival and breeding success. Automatically, they have become an important field of study for ecologists and evolutionary biologists. Mind you, these adaptive colourations are in action, doing their tasks of hiding, shocking, mimicking and confusing right here under your noses, in Urban Mumbai.