Phil Torres Instagram – In the cloud forests of Costa Rica, a leaf is not always a leaf— and a leaf mimic is not *just* a leaf mimic. This is one species, with many forms, and an insane level of detail.
Swipe between these two specimens of #Mimetica katydids from the Monteverde Cloud Forests— which has more impressive camouflage?? The green one has waxy parts and veins like a living leaf, and the brown one has parts that look like it has been eaten as well as sections that look like mold or lichen.
Why such detailed polymorphism? While it is easy to be impressed by the katydids, we also need to be impressed by their predators. Monkeys and birds have remarkable eyesight and foraging skills, putting extraordinary evolutionary pressure on their prey to evolve extraordinary camouflage. If this species always looked like the same fake leaf, their predators would catch on. So, depending on environmental variables (likely what they eat) their genes express in several different ways giving us these different morphs. | Posted on 16/Jan/2024 07:46:42
