1943 Press Photo Chameleon catches insect with tongue in London, England

Chameleon. London, England. With aid from a superspeed strobe light, a chameleon acts as his own photographer and is caught in the act of snaring a hapless insect with his long tongue just before he pops the morsel in his mouth. The action is much too fast for the human eye to follow, but scientists working in the reptile house laboratory of regents park zoological gardens got around that in this wise. The bait was placed on a copper plate. The chameleon sat on a retort stand wired to a battery, its tail dipped in a dilute saline solution to aid contact. When the reptile's tongue struck the insect, a circuit was completed and the light tripped to make the picture. The current passing through the chameleon's body was too minute to cause any ill effect.

Photo is dated 1943.

Photo measures 6.5 x 8.75 inches.