Photo: Dragus - Wikipedia common use license.
The Giant Malaysian Leaf insect is the largest of it's genus (pulchriphyllium) reaching over 100mm in length and are found mostly in the western regions of Malaysia.
They blend in superbly with their environment but don't start their lives looking like fresh green leaves.
Their appearance adapts over time to match their surroundings so their camouflage is ever changing to suit their natural habitat.
All females can reproduce and lay eggs asexually, hiding in trees and dropping their eggs to the forest floor.
The eggs resemble small brown seeds that blend in with the leaf litter.
They hatch after around 6 months and the babies are wingless and brown resembling brown tropical ants, developing their greenness after eating leaves.
Eggs of the Giant Malaysian Leaf insect. (Wikipedia)
For more information on these amazing earthlings see the links below:
www.lifeandscience.org/blog/lets-hear-it-for-the-boy-a-male-malaysian-giant-leaf-insect-is-born/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsr1T-bbKpE
By Brendon Crook
The Giant Malaysian Leaf insect is the largest of it's genus (pulchriphyllium) reaching over 100mm in length and are found mostly in the western regions of Malaysia.
They blend in superbly with their environment but don't start their lives looking like fresh green leaves.
Their appearance adapts over time to match their surroundings so their camouflage is ever changing to suit their natural habitat.
All females can reproduce and lay eggs asexually, hiding in trees and dropping their eggs to the forest floor.
The eggs resemble small brown seeds that blend in with the leaf litter.
They hatch after around 6 months and the babies are wingless and brown resembling brown tropical ants, developing their greenness after eating leaves.
Eggs of the Giant Malaysian Leaf insect. (Wikipedia)
For more information on these amazing earthlings see the links below:
www.lifeandscience.org/blog/lets-hear-it-for-the-boy-a-male-malaysian-giant-leaf-insect-is-born/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsr1T-bbKpE
By Brendon Crook
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