Camouflage in nature

Camouflage in nature.

A bunch of dead leaves on the forest floor?


Leaf mimic grasshopper, Chorotypus gallinaceus
 

A Cryptic katydid (Pseudophyllinae )


A cryptic Reduvius sp. assassin bug nymph with dirt/debris and ant carcasses on its back.


Another Reduvius sp. on tree trunk


This one took it to a new level. Not just debris/dirt but also moss, ant carcasses, and a roach ootheca too!


The camouflage by this Acanthaspis sp. assassin bug nymph is not bad either.

The camouflage is to protect the nymph from predators like jumping spiders. Read about it here.

A leaf insect on guava plant!


another leaf insect.


Another leaf insect.


Amazingly cryptic katydid on a plant!


Another katydid, not as cryptic as the previous one but still pretty good.


Amazing leaf mimic katydid, Leptoderes ornatipennis.


Lichen mimic katydid, Olcinia sp.


The view of the same katydid, different angle.


Camouflaged Pseudophyllinae katydid. Try to spot it.


Zooming in, can you see it now?


A hard-to-spot stick insect


There is something in here, can you spot it?


Here it is, a stick insect :D


Another stick insect


Twig on a leaf?


Even harder to spot and there were two of them! Mating!

More bugs porn here.

Still no idea what it is but think it's a weevil?


A well camouflaged stick insect on a tree trunk


Katydid on a leaf. Pseudophyllinae, Phylomimini (Tettigoniidae).



What about this moth

I passed it by a few times thinking it was some dried leaf! Pyralidae, Pyralinae, possibly in the genus Sacada

Another cryptic moth


Profile shot of the moth


Another moth with impressive camouflage.
Arguda sp. (Lassiocampidae).



What about this one Flatidae? I only spotted it at night only when it moved!

Flatidae, sub family Flatoidinae

Another Flatidae, sub family Flatoidinae


Another one.


Kuhl's Flying Gecko (Ptychozoon kuhli)




A Eurybrachyidae planthopper, genus: Thessitus.








A nicely camouflage Draco sumatranus Flying Dragon


A closer look at the Draco sumatranus.


Blyth's river frog. Tough to spot when it's on the forest floor.


Can you spot the subject here?

Malayan Horned Frog (Megophrys nasuta)

Two tailed spider, Hersilia sp.

More tropical spiders.

A cryptic crab spider. Took me a while to spot it.


A Phaeacius sp. jumping spider on a tree trunk at night.

More tropical jumping spiders.

A slightly pinkish crab spider on similarly colored plant


Aetius nocturnus.  Ant-mimic sac spider.


A male and female Herennia sp. spider on a tree trunk. They can be quite hard to spot too!


A metamorph Malayan Flying Frog, Rhacophorus prominanus


An adult Malayan Flying Frog, Rhacophorus prominanus


Larut Torrent Frog (Amolops larutensis)


Cicadas are not exactly easy to spot either. You can hear them, but it's tough to tell which tree they are on!


and another well camouflaged cicada


This keel-bellied whip snake (Dryophiops rubescens).


This green crested lizard turned from green to dark in just a couple minutes!




Lichen huntsman on a tree


A lichen huntsman spider guarding her egg sac.


Moss mantis, Majangella sp.  on a mossy trunk :D


Moss mantis, Majangella sp.


A dead leaf mantis, Deroplatys lobata, female.


 
More mantids here.

A mossy caterpillar


A short clip of the caterpillar



A Polydictya sp., Fulgoridae.


Malay Baron caterpillar (Euthalia monina).


A pair of Pyrops oculata on a tree trunk.

More lanternfly / lantern bugs.

A couple of angle head lizard, Gonocephalus grandis.


Beautiful dead leaf mantis, Deroplatys truncata

Look at the leaf-like abdomen. It would have been a perfect camouflage if it were on some dead plants!



An Ephestiasula sp. boxer mantis. Really difficult to spot when it's on dried bushes.


Theopropus elegans.

Although colorful, it was not easy to spot this beauty when it was on the wild flowering plant!


A colugo / flying lemur. You may think it's too easy to spot but trust me, it takes a while to spot them in a rainforest!

More about these amazing mammals here.

Another colugo. This one stared at me maybe because I stayed too long and took too many images of him/her :D


A female tree hugger, Tyriobapta torrida. Nice camouflage.


A male tree hugger, Tyriobapta torrida. The camouflage is not as good!


A Zanna sp. lanternfly / lantern bug nymph. Excellent camouflage.

More lantern fly / lantern bugs here.

And of course, let's not forget the most amazing camouflage of all -


All images taken with 40D, either with:

(i) MP-E65, MT-24EX and concave diffuser, or
(ii) Sigma 150mm, with/without Kenko 1.4x teleconverter, with/without tripod