Moss mimic stick insect (Trychopeplus laciniatus) in Katanga, Colombia | Project Noah

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Photo by Dan Doucette

Published on Project Noah

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Field Notes

Description:

One of the most amazing, mind blowing and camouflaged insects I have ever seen. it's body and legs has leaf/lichen like appendages growing out of it, check out the last 2 pics to see how well it blends in.

Habitat:

pacific coast rainforest

Notes:

The only reason I spotted this was because it was on a leaf moving its body back and forth in a swaying motion. I'm not sure what it was doing but it made it much easier to spot. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Thankfully the insect was very calm and stayed very still even when it was on my hand.
Spotted in San Cipriano forest reserve.

Species ID Suggestions

Moss mimic stick insect

Trychopeplus laciniatus

5

Comments (129)

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Woah it looks amazing. Thankyou for sharing.

Thanks a lot Ann, Felix, Graham and WilliamsFamily!

Spent countless hours in the rain forest there and have never seen that little guy! GOOD EYE!!! Nice shot too!

Man phasmids sure are amazing insects.

That is really an incredible creature!

That's fantastic!

I had NO CLUE these things existed! I wonder how many I've accidentally gathered on a moss gathering trip. I will be paying a lot more attention now!

Thanks Mark! You must have missed it when it was making the rounds.

Just found this crazily good spotting Dan. Extraordinary.

Thanks Gavin and outdoor-learning.

outdoor-learning-center47

wow that's insane! great find!

What kind of demonspawn is this :D I'm joking, it's kinda cute

Nope, not kidding! Thanks Muckpuk.

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING! That is amazing!

Thanks armadeus and amjensen.

What an incredible find!

That is just freakin' amazing!!! Wow!

It sure was but nothing compared to your moss mimic!

Yeah, it needs the wind to work. Sounds like a great find in SA.

I didn't see your full write-up when I commented last time. The movement you described is typical to stick insects. Maybe it mimics blowing in the wind? It doesn't work if there's no wind though! I was in South Africa and saw a piece of dried grass moving like a stick insect. If it wasn't for the movement I wouldn't have even known it wasn't dried grass. It looked exactly the same as the dried grass next to it!

Thanks crazeeeykins.

I didn't know these existed. So cool! I used to keep stick insects as a chid.

Yup, that's the idea Hazel and it works pretty well! Gotta love nature!

Oh my gosh it looks like a stick covered in moss!

Hahaha! Yes! Thanks RawrWildie.

This is too cool to handle

Thanks bg11a8.

wow what an amazing creature! great spotting!

Thanks a lot Yasser! Ditto for me!

One of the most amazing insects I've ever seen. Pure wow.

Thanks sarah, Carol and Joshua. Thanks for coming back to favorite this Carol.

Carol Snow Milne

I missed liking this for some reason. This is so so cool!

sarah in the woods

That is awesome! I didn't even know such a thing existed!

Thanks staccyh.

Wow, that's amazing! Congrats on your find and thank you for sharing this amazing creature with us!

Gracias Diaz.

Diaz José Miguel

De lo mejor que he visto!

I'm not sure Juliana. So I've made a new discovery and expanded its known range?

Hi, I think this family (Diapheromeridae) has not been reported for Colombia.

Thanks chadryanlinton and Miguel.

Amazing find!!

chadryanlinton1

Its a baby treebeard (EMP)

Thank you Rieko, that's very nice of you to say. You don't have to worry about me though, I'm not going anywhere. I've been on Noah for 2 years now and will continue to share my stories and be part of the community. Thanks Jemma!

Wow, Dan, you are so famous! We hope you won't forget about us. We hope you will continue to stay the same as you are, kind and nice ;-)

congrats!

Thanks a lot michael! First National Geographic and now PBS, I'm honoured. I've just gotten another email about this insect today. It's really starting to take off!

Wow. That is one of the most amazing insects I have ever seen. Incredible micro scale adaptations. If you're interested, it's getting a lot of interest on tumblr. Even PBS "liked" it: http://climateadaptation.tumblr.com/post/49202893072/wow-look-at-this-gorgeous-stick-bug-click So glad Dan posted this. :)

Thanks long-island and Telse.

I still can't get over this insect Dan. It is truly awesome.Lucky you.

that looks really cool!!

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