Though its camouflage would seem perfectly suitable for stalking prey, T. laciniatus is an herbivore and its clever disguise is only used for defense.
When it is time to reproduce, two will mate and the female will produce the eggs. However, instead of laying the eggs in the traditional cluster or hidden within plants like most insects, the moss mimic insect will only lay the eggs one-by-one to the trees very loosely. The eggs may fall to the forest floor and from there, but from wherever, the nymphs hatch and begin the cycle again. |
In the deep cloud forests of Costa Rica lives this species of phasmatoda named Trychopeplus laciniatus. Like all other insect in its order, such as walking sticks and true leaf insects, it is an insect that can cleverly camouflaged into its surroundings by mimicking the forms and colors around it, and, in this case, it is surrounded by mossy trees and foliage. Its mossy appearance is emulated with varying patches of chitinous cuticle that splay out from its exterior, giving it just the right texture to be almost invisible to the naked eye when staying still to a flaky, wooded background.
|
http://entomologydiary.typepad.com/home/2011/05/costa-rica-2228-march-2011-stick-and-leaf-insects-phasmatodea.html
http://www.cracked.com/article_20881_the-6-stealthiest-disguises-in-animal-kingdom.html
https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/20633726
http://www.cracked.com/article_20881_the-6-stealthiest-disguises-in-animal-kingdom.html
https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/20633726