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Moss Mimic Walkingstick from Costa Rica

Posted by bugman January 28th, 2011 at 9:09 pm

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Walkingsticks

Need insect id-Costa Rica
Location: Monteverde, Costa Rica
January 28, 2011 11:08 am
Hello. Photographed this very well camouflaged bug (insect, spider) in the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve in Monteverde area Costa Rica.
Saw it walking across a leaf. when i got close it froze up, looking like a piece of moss. Got a pretty good pic. Brought a small twig close to it, and it jumped off the leaf, almost moved spider like.What could it be.
Signature: DC

moss insect costa rica dc 300x251 Moss Mimic Walkingstick from Costa Rica

Possibly a Phasmid

Wow DC,
That is one crazy insect.  Our first guess would be a Walkingstick or other Phasmid.  They are an order known for excellent camouflage.  Our second guess would be some species of Katydid, though the antennae don’t seem long enough.  We wish you had a better view of the head as the mouthparts might give us some clues.  We hope one of our readers will be able to assist in this identification.

Jacob’s Comment leads to a post in our archive
Thanks to Jacob who found the Moss Mimic Walkingstick, Trychopeplus laciniatus,  which was identified by Dr. Bruno Kneubühler  (Switzerland) in our own archives:  http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2008/08/05/moss-mimic-walkingstick-from-costa-rica/.

Karl also cites our archives
Hi Daniel and DC:
I believe the same beast was posted previously on WTB?; by danielj on August 5th, 2008. It was subsequently identified by Dr. Bruno Kneubühler as a Phasmid, specifically “…a nymph (young one) of Trychopeplus sp. (most probably Trychopeplus laciniatus)”. I am quite envious of anyone that manages to find one of these; I keep searching but haven’t found one yet.  Regards. K

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Comments 2

  1. Jacob H wrote:

    There’s a post here with a very similar looking Walkingstick Insect-
    http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2008/08/05/moss-mimic-walkingstick-from-costa-rica/

    Posted 30 Jan 2011 at 6:52 pm
  2. bugman wrote:

    Thanks for tracking down this ID in our archives.

    Posted 31 Jan 2011 at 2:59 am

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