What do you see in the picture below? A dried Almond tree leaf, a fallen almond and some other dried leaves. Look harder.
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| Camouflage: Spot the Odd One |
Can you spot the spindly legs of the brown Leaf Insect sitting on the almond leaf? I nearly missed it, but when I saw the leaves move in the absence of a breeze, I looked closer and was in for a surprise. Not only does this creature look like brown leaves, it also tries to mimic the movement of leaves being blown in the wind. The insect rocks back and forth as it moves.
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| Brown Leaf Insect |
Here is a clear shot of the insect. If someone can help me identify it more accurately, please let me know.
What a wierd creature! How ever many generations of evolution must it take for something to develop such a complicated camouflage?
ReplyDeletevasanti said:
ReplyDeleteA strange insect but in the second picture its stance is humanoid- as if ready to play a ball coming at it! nice photography.
A great photo, Anita. This is a strange-looking but really cool insect.
ReplyDeleteHi Anita,
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not mistaken this is the wandering violin mantis, Gongylus gongylodes.
Please see this post and the comments: http://madraswanderer.blogspot.com/2008/12/chance-encounters.html
Nice blog!
Thanks Flowergirl for naming it. So it seems that this insect is not so uncommon here in Chennai. Perhaps we just don't get to spot it as often because it's so cleverly camouflaged.
ReplyDelete