Natural Armor

By Tim Haugen • Photos courtesy of author

They’re not the Knights of the Round Table, but some plants and animals defend themselves with built-in suits of armor.

With one shell on top and one shell below, turtles have two sets of armor. This eastern box turtle has a bottom shell that’s hinged like a door, so it can close when the turtle pulls itself inside.





Insects keep a skeleton on the outside of their body for protection—a shell called an exoskeleton. They shed their shell, then grow before a new one hardens.





Porcupines have stiff, sharp hairs called quills—as many
as 30,000. Porcupines are shy, but they’ll slap their tails at an intruder.





Armor lets these shy creatures keep to themselves.
When a grasshopper like this one sheds its
old exoskeleton, it hides until it grows a new one. Without its hard shell, it’s an easy meal for predators.

Back off! Be careful! Don’t touch! Different animals send the same message—sometimes just with their hair.



Some armor doesn’t work. Here, aphids avoid the sharp spines of a prickly pear cactus to suck the plant’s juice.







You’ve got something in common with this ladybug: Your skin keeps out harmful invaders like germs. The ladybug’s exoskeleton does
the same thing.