Cryptic color patterns in prey are classical examples of adaptations to avoid predation, but we still know little about behaviors that reinforce the match between animal body and the background. For example, moths avoid predators by matching their color patterns with the background, but the contribution of their behavior to their crypticity have not been well understood. Here, we report the previously underappreciated ability of moths to find the locally most cryptic spot and body orientation by using two species Hypomecis roboraria and Jankowskia fuscaria. We show that body positioning behavior, performed frequently by moths after landing on bark, results in a significant increase of the camouflage effect provided by their cryptic color pattern alone. We also found that moths recognize multiple background cues, such as furrow structure, visual patterns, and roundness to position and orient themselves. Our study demonstrate morphological adaptations, such as color pattern of moths, cannot be fully understood without taking into account a behavioral phenotype that coevolved with the morphology for increasing the adaptive value of the morphological trait.

• Chang Ku Kang(Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University)
• Jong Yeol Moon(Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University)
• Sang im Lee(Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Institute of Advanced Machinery and Design, Seoul National University)
• Piotr G. Jablonski(Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University)