The insect looks like a leaf 890.849 KB

Leaves play a vital role in the survival of plants. They absorb sunlight and convert it into organic matter. Some plants, such as evergreen conifers and deciduous plants, retain their leaves throughout the year; others, like the oak, shed their leaves every autumn. Given the prevalence and importance of leaves in forest biomes, it is not surprising that many animals camouflage themselves with leaves to protect themselves from predators.

Below are seven species of animals that look like plant leaves. Next time you pick up a leaf, make sure it's one and not one of those imposter leaves.

Breeding Java Leafweeds

In insectariums, the parthenogenetic form is usually common, which means that females lay unfertilized eggs, and females hatch again after 4-6 months.

Newborn individuals have a red-brown color. Their body is wide and flat, so they disguise themselves as small leaves.

Well, there are a lot of unusual living creatures in the tropics! Well, the climate here is warm and humid, there are more than enough plants, so those who eat greens are bred. And behind them come those who don’t mind running for their own lunch. Birds, insects, fish and animals - they are all busy with something. For example, they catch up with their breakfast, not suspecting that they themselves will soon become someone’s dinner.

Although no, they suspect. Otherwise, why would they come up with so many ways to outwit predators? However, the leaf beetle surpassed them all! This large insect from the order ghostly is so reminiscent of an inconspicuous, withered leaf that it is practically no different from it. You take such a leaf in your hands, but - raaaaz - and it runs away. It doesn’t take long for you to start stuttering...

Leaf-bodies or leaf-bearing plants (lat. Phylliidae

) is a whole family of insects that are common in the tropical zone of Southeast Asia, on the islands of Melanesia and in northeastern Australia.

Their maximum size is 12.5 cm. The body is wide and flattened in females, elongated and long in males. The legs imitate small leaves: they are slightly expanded, leaf-shaped. Females have no back pair of wings, so they cannot fly. They move slowly, freezing for a long time on branches or on leaf petioles.

But males fly beautifully, they are very mobile and are even capable of autonomy (throwing away part of the body when in danger). They are not so leaf-like: their elytra are shortened and dense. The body color of leafhoppers not only harmonizes with the surrounding foliage, it literally merges with it. Females even have small and thin veins on their elytra that imitate the veining of plants.

Today there are 4 genera in the leaf beetle family, which include 51 species. However, the most interesting thing is that over the 47 million years of their existence on our planet, they have practically not changed. Apparently, such a disguise is already ideal, so why change anything?

Scientists searching for fossil remains discovered this quite recently. Although it is quite possible that they had come across such insects before, and they mistook them for ordinary leaves. Safely hidden, cunning ones.

Leaf beetles reproduce by laying eggs. Their larvae do not look like leaves at all, but they have a reliable, protective coloring that allows them to hide from enemies.

These insects feed on plants, gnawing them using their forward-directed, gnawing mouthparts. Their activity is directly opposite to that of their enemies. For example, in hot climates, where the afternoon heat forces all inhabitants of the tropics to lie down in the shade, leaf beetles are active during the day, and stand motionless in the morning, evening and night. If in their habitat predators look for victims during the day, then leaf beetles are active at night.

Very often, leafhoppers hang under a branch or under the petiole of a leaf, clinging to it with only two legs. At the same time, they slowly turn their body from side to side, depicting a leaf hanging on a thin thread, which sways with a light breeze. “I’m a leaf, a leaf, a leaf, I’m not lunch at all...”

What does it eat?

As the name suggests, this family feeds on the foliage of plants, regardless of whether it is wild or agricultural. Such a multitude of species depends, among other things, on a huge number of different plants, for each of which there is a pair of leaf beetles. Sorrel, parsley, cucumbers, and even oak trees - all this suffers due to the insatiability of beetles. They feed on a constant basis, regardless of whether it is day or night, and are not stopped even by worsening climatic conditions or precipitation. Because of all this, it is leaf beetles that are considered the main threat to most agricultural species, and some means of destroying them do not always work, because their numbers will prevail in any case.

Amazon slingshot

African beetle. insect, striped

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The Amazon Slingshot frog (Ceratophrys cornuta) is a frog native to the rainforests of South America. The body color and warty ridges give the frogs a resemblance to leaves lying on the ground. Amazon slingshots hide in leaves and then attack their prey (such as small reptiles, mice and other frogs). This is a fairly aggressive species of frog, eating almost anything that moves past its large mouths.

Fantastic leaf-tailed gecko

Fantastic leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus) are small lizards native to the island of Madagascar that live on tree branches in the tropical forest. The leaf-tailed gecko's diet consists of crickets, flies, spiders, cockroaches and snails. This species of reptile is known for its striking resemblance to a dried leaf, which helps them camouflage themselves from predators during daylight hours and hide with prey at night. The fantastic leaf-tailed gecko takes an aggressive stance when it feels threatened: the lizard opens its mouth wide and makes loud noises.

Causes of pests appearing on indoor plants

Order Stick insects photo

How to get rid of it at home? View a selection of effective products and learn the rules for their use.

How to recognize insects? How to deal with them - the answers to these questions will help amateur gardeners maintain plants in perfect condition.

Mealybug

Fight against the use of chemicals:

Fitoverm.
Actellik.
Calypso.
Biotlin.

Traditional methods:

tincture with lemon or orange zest;
soap-alcohol solution;
treating the flower with running water;
garlic infusion;
horsetail decoction;
a mixture of water and olive oil.

Spider mite

Pest characteristics:

How to get rid of:

How to fight:

sufficient watering: do not like a humid environment;
regular inspection, mechanical removal of pests;
treatment with systemic insecticides that penetrate the roots, stems, and leaves of indoor flowers.

Effective methods:

soap solution against thrips.
Prepare a strong foam, apply generously to problem areas, carefully treat all leaves on which traces of the activity of harmful creatures are visible. For a noticeable effect, experienced gardeners recommend washing off the home remedy only after a day. During this period, not only adult individuals will die, but also thrips eggs. After the procedure, rinse the greens well with clean water;
Sticky tapes placed close to plants
will help get rid of pests. The sight of insects stuck to the adhesive surface deteriorates the aesthetic perception of the home flower garden, but in order to combat thrips, it is worth enduring the temporary inconvenience;
A decoction of potato tops
is a proven folk remedy against thrips. Steam half a bucket of green mass with boiling water (as much as will go in), leave for 8 hours, remove leaves and stems, strain the product. Spray infected plants daily.

Important! The fight will be successful if the affected areas are repeatedly sprayed with insecticidal and acaricidal agents. You will need potent compounds: Karbofos, Fitoverm, Karate

The neurotoxins contained in the preparations Apache and Mosilpan are effective. The owners positively evaluate the effect of the combined product Gaupsin. Bioinsecticide and fungicide actively fights against adult insects and eggs of harmful insects.

Shchitovka

How to fight:

if the number of insects is small, remove mechanically, wipe the leaves with alcohol or soapy water; in case of severe infestation, tear off the affected leaves and burn;
The method is effective for killing adults.

To combat eggs you will need insecticides:

Permethrin.
Malathion.
Insecticidal soap.

Treat not only the stem and leaves with toxic compounds, but also the soil in which insect eggs are often found. On the first day, application is required in the morning and evening; over the next ten days, one daily procedure is sufficient. To protect the flower and repel insects, spray the plant once every 4 weeks.

9) Scorpio Fish

This creature can also disguise itself as fallen leaves. Only underwater. They use this camouflage to remain undetected by prey. The fish hide between the corals near the bottom, resembling plants. Their movements are smooth, driven by underwater currents. The victims of these creatures, unaware of anything, swim closer to the fish, thinking that they are plants. The cunning scorpion fish immediately grabs the unfortunate victim.

Spreading

The giant leaf beetle lives naturally in Malaysia. It is found only in the Cameron Highlands, located in the north-west of the country at altitudes from 800 to 1600 m above sea level. The area of the occupied area does not exceed 500 square meters. km.

This region has a relatively cool climate for the tropics. During the day, the air temperature rarely rises above 24°C, and at night it can drop to 14-15°C. The annual precipitation reaches 2740 mm. It rains about 190 days during the year.

The insect settles in groves and bushes on leafy plants. It is very easy to mistake it for a tree leaf swaying in the wind.

Risk group: which plants most often suffer from leaf weevils

Spring - early summer: apricot, quince, birch, hawthorn, beech, elm, hornbeam, walnut, pear, oak, strawberry, willow, maple, nettle, hazel, raspberry, alder, aspen, rose, rowan, plum, thorn, poplar, bird cherry, apple tree, etc. Late summer - early autumn : lilac (middle and lower tier of the crown, basal shoots), ash, etc. Significant harm is caused mainly to young plants.

Phantom Mantis

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The ghost mantis (Phyllocrania paradoxa) is a predatory insect that camouflages itself as rotting leaves. From its brown coloration to the jagged edges on its body and limbs, the ghostly mantis fits perfectly into its environment. It feeds on a variety of insects, including blackbirds, mealworms and baby crickets. When they feel threatened, they often freeze motionless on the ground and do not move even when touched. The ghost mantis inhabits dry open areas, trees and shrubs throughout Africa and southern Europe.

Gaboon viper

The Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica) is a snake that lives in the tropical forests of Africa. This predator is at the top of the food chain in its native habitat. With huge fangs and a body measuring 1.2 to 1.5 m in length, the Gabon viper prefers to hunt at night and moves slowly enough not to spook its prey. When a threat is detected, the snake hides among the dry leaves on the ground.

The color of the Gaboon viper makes it difficult for potential predators and prey to identify this snake in its natural habitat. This species usually feeds on birds and small mammals.

Family Phylliidae

The family Phylliidae is very small in number, and among stick insects it occupies a special place. These are quite large stick insects - their body length is up to 12.5 cm. Female leaf insects are characterized by a wide and flattened body. Moreover, its shape and venation are such that they make these insects very similar to a tree leaf, since the color and venation of the elytra imitate plant leaves. This similarity is reinforced by their leaf-shaped extended legs. The wings of leafhoppers are reduced, so they move slowly through plants or hang motionless on branches or leaf petioles. Leafworms are characterized by sexual dimorphism. Males do not look like leaves and have shortened elytra, are mobile, and fly well. All leaf beetles are herbivorous insects.

Representatives of the Leaf family are distributed only in the tropics, and they are not found outside them. Leaf beetles are found in Southeast Asia from Pakistan to northeastern China and the Malay Archipelago; they live in the northeastern part of Australia, as well as on the islands of Melanesia.

Species: Phyllium crucifolium Brunner = Ceylon green leaf runner

The Ceylon green leaf fly (Phyllium crifolium) has a wide variety of colors on its wing wings. As a result, different females resemble leaves of different shades. Some have a reddish-yellow body color, others are reddish-brown, and still others can be bright green.

The adaptive behavior of leafhoppers is also interesting. Sometimes you can observe leafhoppers hanging under a branch or leaf petiole, which, clinging to them with only two or three legs, regularly but slowly rotate their body in one direction or the other. This movement of the leafhopper makes this insect even more similar to a leaf hanging “by a thread,” which sways at the slightest breath of wind and seems as if it is about to fall to the ground.

Females of the Ceylon green leaf fly move along the substrate very slowly, and due to their reduced wings they are not capable of flight. But males behave completely differently. Unlike females, males are very active and mobile. Their elytra are greatly shortened and they do not have the protective resemblance to a leaf. But male leaf beetles have well-developed wings, thanks to which they freely fly from one place to another in search of females or better habitats. The larvae of leaf beetles also do not look like leaves at all, but they have a protective body coloration, thanks to which they are easily camouflaged in any foliage.

Given the prevalence and importance of leaves in the world, it is not surprising that many animals camouflage themselves with leaves to protect themselves from predators.

Below are seven species of animals that look like plant leaves. Next time you pick up a leaf, make sure it's one and not one of those imposter leaves.

2) Torpedo Beetle

Nicknamed the “torpedo beetle,” these insects are scientifically called Siphanta acuta

. They feed on plants, live in trees and camouflage themselves under foliage. When they rest, green wings cover the body, folding into a “house”. The beetles reach a length of no more than 15 millimeters. They received the name “torpedo beetle” due to the fact that their larvae can jump to a height of more than half a meter. They are native to Australia, although they can now be found in Hawaii and New Zealand. Some have even seen them in California.

Stick insect

This species of stick insect was imported from West Malaysia and has now been freely bred at home for several decades. It is no coincidence that the stick insect (Phyllium bioculatum) is one of the most popular species that can be kept at home in insectariums. The females look like beautiful leaves, they are magnificent, although these insects are perfectly camouflaged among the foliage and are very difficult to see. Stick insects of this species are not poisonous, not aggressive, and are very inactive, so camouflage is their only way to protect themselves from predators. The bodies of leaf beetles can be of different colors, from light green to red-brown. There are individuals of yellow, brick, rusty pink, light green, green with tan marks and spots of different shades.

The size of female stick insects varies from 80 - 95 mm in length and 40 - 50 mm in width. Unlike other species, female leaf beetles have a well-developed pair of fore wings, which they never use for their intended purpose. There are always more males, their abdomen is much narrower than that of females, and they are smaller in size - about 60 mm. The fore and hind wings of these insects are well developed and they can fly. They acquire green color during the first week, after the final molt. With age they turn golden. Males are often very active and difficult to handle; they constantly try to fly away, and when trying to catch them, they easily lose their legs. They transform into adult (sexually mature) insects within 5 months; in females this process lasts a little longer and takes about 6 months.

Since males mature faster and their lives are quite short, many of them are not available for mating. After all, females do not even have time to mature by this time. Therefore, for breeding stick insects, it is better to have several individuals of different ages. How long do stick insects of this species live? Leaf insects live from several weeks to several months, but if you learn how to reproduce them, then the successive stick insects of this species will delight you for a long time. At least caring for them is not as difficult as keeping octopuses. who also live very little.

The fertilized female will have a pouch in the genital area for a short time. After successful mating, females lay over 300 eggs throughout their lives, with an average of 2 - 3 eggs per day. The eggs vary in color from light to dark brown and are seed-like, with five ridges, measuring about 9 x 5 mm. The incubation period of an insect on wet sand at temperatures (23 - 28 ° C) is about 5 months.

Keeping stick insects will not be difficult if they are placed in a spacious and large insectarium with fresh leaves. Suitable foods for the leaf beetle include oak, raspberry or blackberry leaves. Young stick insects prefer tender parts of plants, but it is not recommended to feed them leaves that have just opened from the buds, as they contain substances that are poisonous to insects.

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4) Rag picker

This “seahorse” is very reminiscent of sea vegetation. Upon closer inspection, you will notice that this is not algae at all, but a fish, which is a close relative of seahorses. Underwater, these creatures resemble the leaves of sea plants. Their leaf-like body parts are not actually used to move underwater. These accessories help to camouflage with the environment. They are helped to swim by transparent fins, which are difficult to see, so the rag picker is less like an animal and more like a plant, the appearance of which it is trying to imitate.

Grasshoppers

Some species of grasshoppers from the family ( Tettigoniidae

), to avoid encounters with predators, they imitate plant leaves in the smallest detail. These insects have flat bodies and camouflage that resembles leaf veins and decay spots.

When alarmed, they freeze motionless in place, hoping to avoid detection. If they feel threatened, they fly away.

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Leaf-bodies or leaf-bearing plants (lat. Phylliidae

) is a whole family of insects that are common in the tropical zone of Southeast Asia, on the islands of Melanesia and in northeastern Australia.

Leaf beetles reproduce by laying eggs. Their larvae do not look like leaves at all, but they have a reliable, protective coloring that allows them to hide from enemies.

These small insects, photographed in their natural habitat among trees and leaves, show that they are not easy prey for predators.

Paul Bertner, a 31-year-old forester and photographer from Canada, decided to find and photograph insects and their homes.

He considers this process a kind of game of hide and seek.

His goal was to show how much biodiversity there is in nature.

Insects and the world around them

The Canadian forester admits that finding the beetle in its natural environment is incredibly difficult and requires special skills to do so without spooking the insect.

Using macro photography, he was able to get close enough to some of the insects to capture them against a backdrop of trees and foliage.

Paul Burtner has been a professional photographer for about 5 years. For his work, he used two Canon 5D mark III cameras and a Canon MPE-65mm lens for close-up photography.

Prevention measures

Following the rules for caring for indoor flowers reduces the risk of pests. Each type of plant has its own standards for humidity, lighting, and fertilizing.

Basic Rules:

optimal temperature conditions;
watering according to the norm for a specific flower;
sufficient sunlight or shade;
regular loosening of the soil for active access of oxygen to the root system;
fertilizer using organic components and synthetic preparations;
regular inspection of all parts of the plant to identify pests and diseases;
drainage system that prevents moisture stagnation;
timely replanting of the flower if the flowerpot is too small;
treatment with compounds based on natural ingredients to repel harmful insects;
inspection of leaves, stems, soil when buying a new plant: often dangerous insects enter the apartment from a flower shop.

Pests of indoor flowers interfere with the normal development of plants, worsen the condition of buds, greenery, and root systems. Information about thrips, scale insects, mealybugs, and spider mites will help you understand how to recognize harmful bugs and mites, and how to deal with dangerous insects.

Mold, rot and small insects keep plants from living? The following video contains useful tips on how to solve the age-old problem and cure plants from pests and diseases:

The Java leaf beetle is one of the most unusual insects in the world, which surprises with its shape and protective coloring.

Javan leaf beetles belong to, they are common in the tropical forests of India, Mauritania, Borneo, Sri Lanka, Malacca, Java and Sumatra.

Monkfish

One of the groups of fish that is famous for its ability to imitate, monkfish are experts in underwater camouflage. Thanks to such an inconspicuous appearance, it easily catches prey and hides from predators. Some species of this group imitate stones or corals, others turn into ascidians or sponges. Some of them can imitate other underwater creatures, such as sea urchins, while others disguise themselves as rocks covered with algae. Without this kind of careful camouflage, monkfish would be too vulnerable, so they adapted to hide from enemies with the help of their strange appearance.

Reproduction of leaf butterflies

The leaf butterfly brings offspring twice a year: once in the wet season and a second time in the dry season.

The generation born in the wet season is somewhat smaller in size and darker in coloration of the wings. Sexual dimorphism is not expressed and females and males practically do not differ from each other.

The female leaf butterfly is almost indistinguishable from the male.

After mating, mature females lay eggs near large trees, boulders, and on host plants. Externally, the eggs of the leaf butterfly look like a green ball. Ten vertical ribs can be seen on its surface. Larvae that have just hatched from eggs are black in color and have spines on their bodies. At the final larval stage, the caterpillar becomes red instead of black. As a rule, the pupa hangs on thin branches of plants, is colored brown, and has sharp conical protrusions on each abdominal segment.

As experiments show, the variegated color of the leaf butterfly depends on how the pigments are distributed in the scales covering the wing. In this case, how the pigments will be deposited depends to a very large extent on the temperature factor affecting the pupae. If the pupae grew at low temperatures, ranging from 0 to 10 degrees Celsius, then the adult forms of the butterfly with a highly developed dark melanin pigment were eventually formed.

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6) Sea dragon-algae

Another relative of the seahorse and the rag-picker, the seaweed dragon cannot boast of the same amazing appearance as, for example, the rag-picker, but it also looks very funny. This fish is of the species Phyllopteryx taeniolatus

easily hides among seaweed thanks to its leaves-like shoots. This species is native to the southern coast of Australia and can be found in waters ranging from 3 to 50 meters deep. When a fish moves in shallow water, it can easily be confused with a broken piece of algae.