Animal profile

Leaf Insect

Phyllium siccifolium

InsectaFoliage of trees and shrubs in tropical forest and plantation

Field profile

Leaf insects are flattened phasmids whose bodies and leg lobes reproduce the shape and venation of a leaf. Females are broad and flightless; males are narrower and can fly. They feed on foliage and move with a rocking gait.

Published field notes

2026-08-22

Leaf Insect

Leaf mimicry has a 47-million-year fossil record

A fossil insect from the Messel pit in Germany, Eophyllium messelensis, shows the leaf-like body outline and leg lobes of modern Phyllium. It puts the strategy at least 47 million years old and reveals it evolved among quite different plants.

Read with evidence →