Dead leaf mimic
January 31, 2010
Hi, I got a photo of this dead leaf mimic in Monteverde, Costa Rica during a night walk. Can you tell me what it is exactly please?
Thanks
Miles
Costa Rica
Hi Miles,
Often the identification of tropical insects can be very difficult, and the best we are able to do is the family level, or even merely the level of order. Interestingly, back in 2008, we received an image that was taken in Panama in the 1970s of a Katydid that was identified by Piotr Naskrecki, an expert in the family, as Mimetica crenulata. Your Katydid looks very similar to that individual, and we believe it may be in the same genus. While the image of Mimetica crenulata has an undulating wing edge, your specimen has what appears to be the petiole, or place where the leaf would be attached to the plant as part of its very effective mimicry. We will attempt to contact Piotr Naskrecki to verify that identification. More searching led us to a photo online on the Ecolibrary website, but no species name was provided.
Piotr Responds
Hi Daniel,
This is probably a female of Mimetica incisa.
Cheers,
Piotr