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In the Borneo rainforest, a leaf isn't always what it seems. Many tropical trees and shrubs have pale or reddish young leaves as part of a strategy to deter herbivory: the absence of green chlorophyll reduces their nutritive value. Here, an orange morph leaf-legged katydid (Eulophophyllum lobulatum) mimics this exact foliage type. This insect has been found to have a variety of colorations ranging from green to yellow and red, an adaptation that probably makes it more difficult for their predators to learn a fixed search image for any particular color. Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).

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© Chien C. Lee
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Contained in galleries
Borneo, Insects, Camouflage
In the Borneo rainforest, a leaf isn't always what it seems. Many tropical trees and shrubs have pale or reddish young leaves as part of a strategy to deter herbivory: the absence of green chlorophyll reduces their nutritive value. Here, an orange morph leaf-legged katydid (Eulophophyllum lobulatum) mimics this exact foliage type. This insect has been found to have a variety of colorations ranging from green to yellow and red, an adaptation that probably makes it more difficult for their predators to learn a fixed search image for any particular color. Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).