Disruptive coloration

Markings... of whatever sort, tend to obliterate,—to cancel, by their separate and conflicting pattern, the visibility of the details and boundaries of form.... If the bird's or butterfly's costume consists of sharply contrasted bold patterns of light and dark, in about equal proportions, its contour will be 'broken up' against both light and dark—light failing to show against light, dark against dark. Such is apparently the basal and predominant use of almost all the bolder patterns in animals' costumes.The function of a disruptive pattern is to prevent, or to delay as long as possible, the first recognition of an object by sight... irregular patches of contrasted colours and tones ... tend to catch the eye of the observer and to draw his attention away from the shape which bears them.Various recent attempts to camouflage tanks, armoured cars and the roofs of buildings with paint reveal an almost complete failure by those responsible to grasp the essential factor in the disguise of surface continuity and of contour. Such work must be carried out with courage and confidence, for at close range objects properly treated will appear glaringly conspicuous. But they are not painted for deception at close range, but at ranges at which ... bombing raids are likely... And at these distances differences of tint ... blend and thus nullify the effect and render the work practically useless.Leopard: a disruptively camouflaged (and countershaded) predatorA ptarmigan and five chicks with exceptional disruptive camouflageJumping spider: a disruptively camouflaged invertebrate predator'Shape, shine, shadow' make these 'camouflaged' military vehicles easily visible, their outlines not disruptedA British Challenger 2 tank painted in bold disruptive pattern of sand and greenThe banded butterflyfish, Chaetodon striatus, has strong disruptive bands through the body and concealing the eye.USS Alabama wearing measure 16 in 1942Disruptively camouflaged A-7D Corsairs on a disruptively painted concrete surface, Thailand, 1972