#leaf mimic

[jenfoundabug]

Gorgeous October thorn moth (Tetracis jubararia) I found while camping in Northern California a few months ago. These leaf mimics in the Geometridae family reach adulthood sometime in the fall (August - November depending on the locality), making their brown camouflage all the more clever. As a bonus, the serrated edges of their wings resemble the leaves of the live oak trees, which are common around here. Live oak picture, for your reference. Not brown, but you get the idea. They're evergreen, but shed old brown leaves fairly regularly, particularly in the fall.

[morgansram]

Leaf mimic in a frame.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Leaf-mimic katydid

By Nick Garbutt

[onenicebugperday]

Leaf-mimic grasshoppers in the genus Chorotypus

Found in South and Southeast Asia

Photos 1-3 by gancw1, 4 by dhfischer, 5 by albertkang, 6 by budak, and 7 by catalinatong

[cloudcountry]

i love picking up habits from other people because sometimes you will mimic the poses they usually do and sometimes you will meow at random intervals and i do both

[psikonauti]

Leaf mimic grasshopper - Systella sp.

[animal-forgeries]

today's mimic: giant malaysian leaf insect, pulchriphyllium giganteum

photo by bernard dupont

the giant malaysian leaf insect is one of the largest members of the family Philliidae, a family of insects that are highly specialised in object mimicry--sometimes called mimesis--of leaves. this species is a particularly good example, almost exactly matching the model in many subtle ways, such as the flattened legs that resemble half-eaten leaves, the veins on the abdomen, and the brown patterns that match brown discolouration on damaged leaves. to add to the illusion, these insects will sway back and forth like leaves in the wind. even the eggs of the giant malaysian leaf insect show mimicry, as they resemble seeds! this is an example of defensive mimicry: by mimicking leaves and seeds, insectivorous predators are more likely to ignore them.

[textless]

[psn-stalling]

I feel like the key to getting out is related to emotional things rather than anything material. Would you describe your outfit as you?

...Not really. I just put it on once and it's just stuck here.

I don't really know if there's a particular reason for it just staying with me. It just did.

[newvegascowboy]

the concept of a shapeshifter alien is really cool and i do like it but like. i do want to know what the evolutionary pressures were to develop those traits. also how expensive is it, evolutionary speaking?

[deepermadness]

Some flyers from my garden! How many do you recognise?

- - -

[All photos taken by me, DeeperMadness, on a Sony Xperia 1 IV]

[justshapesandshitposting]

Random lil concept i’ve thought of (worldbuilding)

Concept: Flower Shapes are flower mimics, they’re still animals, but evolved to look like flowers/plants to avoid predation, and considering how small animals get larger on islands, and how i hc paradise to be a sorta island continent/island chain... yeah i can def see that paradise’s flower/plant shapes are much larger than their mainland cousins, and there might even be a totally unique breed or two of flower shape on paradise as well. 

they likely dont have as much of the natural chitinous armour as other ‘breeds’ of shape, which makes them far more flexible and likely faster in the process, which again, would make sense if they were closer to the bottom of the food chain originally on the mainland. 

their mainland relatives are prolly generalists for the most part, with a prevalence of insects in their diet, after all, bugs get attracted to flowers defensive AND aggressive mimicry- 

[askstellarandfriends]

ASK BOX OPEN!!!

Here we learn a little more about King Variant. Now comes the big question, should I do a story going into more detail on the Casterverse Kirin lore?

Special thanks to @splungecoyote for the ask!

Commissions Are Open!!!

If you like what I do, consider buying me a Ko-fi!

[monty-glasses-roxy]

Once again checking my emails every two seconds as if they're gonna send me Important Email Number 2 after their offices have closed.

Anyway, thinking about Rebuilt AU being added onto the Ruin AU I have in mind. Hell of a power move from Cassie's dad.

[onenicebugperday]

@flecks-of-stardust submitted: some lovely bugs spotted on my campus today! there were also some wasps, but unfortunately i didn’t get pictures of them. i’m especially enthralled by the bee and the fly-looking fella; ids for all of them would be nice if you’re willing, but i’m most interested in those two. all of these bugs were found within an hour of each other in [removed] (please remove location)!

i didn’t notice the torn wing on the fly looking fella initially :’) it was a bit sluggish too when i went to move it off the side walk, but such is the life of a bug i suppose.

Indeed such is bug life! In general flies don't live particularly long. The first fella looks like a western carpenter bee, and the next is a bee-mimic robber fly. The pretty yellow beetle is an elm leaf beetle and the grasshopper I couldn't say offhand!

[dragon-tamer-1]

Meet Maple and Sycamore, Amber's newest member of her dragon family! They are a Mimic Leaf dragon, a rare dragon to find, mostly just because of how easily they blend into the environment. They are seasonal, which means that they change colors when the season changes. They change colors with the environment easily, so they could chill on a branch and blend into the tree, as evident by my last post. They are absolute sweethearts as well, as their main preference for food is fruit, but will also eat small rodents and other small animals.

In order, Summer, Spring, and Winter. Fall is the first photo.

They started as a very pale green, but became a much more bright green as they grew. Currently in Amber's story, they are only a juvenile, so they're still growing. They won't get too big, this type of dragon is more of a medium sized dragon. Under the cut is them when they are adults:

@zu-is-here @jann-the-bean here's the ref of the new noodle boi!