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Project Noah Nature School
I found this tiny "creature" today sitting on a leaf. I took pictures of it thinking it was a spider of some kind. It was very cooperative. When I saw the pictures, well…… :) We have all seen insects imitating leaves, this is the first leaf I ever saw imitating an arthropod.
Heavy shrubbery along a street, semi-urban area, outskirts of San Cristobal de Las Casas, 2,200 meters.
Spotted on Nov 20, 2013
Submitted on Nov 21, 2013
21 Comments
Thank you Mark and Chun :)
Very unusual, looks like a frog.
Lauren you might like pics 1,2 here... http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/101... :-)
Yes Adi, unbelievable. This one is undoubtedly coincidence, but there are all those orchids that imitate insects and there must be many other things plants do to take advantage of their long and ancient relationship with insects that we haven't found yet.
Unbelievable! What a trick nature is playing :)
Read comments and your description..I am now getting curious to find more of these Lauren!
Thanks guys. It was only about 4 mm and it really fooled me. Nature can turn the tables on us and have a little laugh.
Yes, I get it now!! It was nagging at me so I read Lauren's description again!!
LaurenZarate you have a good sense of humor!!
so the leaves finally got jealous of the insects getting the attention!
Very nice.
:-)
Hi guys, read her description. This is a leaf! It just happens to look like an insect :)
Perhaps Lauren can share more pictures?
I did notice that also... I can not tell where the head is and the rest of the legs??
'small guest bedroom' lol Hey Lauren did it do anything at all like move? I can't see any sign of real symmetry or a head or dorsal line... even the 'legs' don't seem to match up properly. Are you doing a late April fools on us ?? :-)
WOW!! What is it? It is gorgeous and so very different!! It is so hard to tell what it looks like...I am so curious... I hope you get an ID, LaurenZarate.
Thank you Kel my friend, yes I put it in a small guest bedroom, but it was so boring and inactive that I released it again.
Oh, no, because you have not explored this insect, friend? It seems incredible. When you see something strange , you should catch it in a temporary trap, you should call it: 'small guest bedroom', to watch their movements and característas. Then drop it in a safe place, or in the same place you found it.
Thank you Luis, yes amazing how it tricked me. I thought it a tiny crab spider or even (thrill) a green pseudoscorpion. It was tiny enough that I really shouldn't think I need better glasses????
Amazing!
Thank you Cindy and Janine :) :)
Wow! Great spotting, Lauren!
aha!