Here are two lovely photos of a mimic taken by photographer/biologist/naturalist Piotr Naskrecki in Gorongosa Park in Mozambique. These appeared on his Facebook page, and I asked for permission to reproduce them. I give his captions below. I’ve also turned this into a “spot the. . .” quiz for those who want a not-too-hard puzzle. The reveal is below the fold.
Piotr’s captions are indented.
Every now and then somebody posts a similar photo so, now is my turn. It is not a difficult one and you will get an extra point for naming the family of the subject. I ran across it today on the Cheringoma Plateau in Gorongosa.
Click below to see the critter:
It’s a grasshopper!
If you had problems identifying the cryptically colored organism in my previous photo, here it is in its full glory – a beautiful female Lobosceliana sp. (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae) from the Cheringoma Plateau in Gorongosa.
lucky for me I’m using a big monitor today- that is some amazing crypsis!
What an amazing creature, evolution molds such ingenious creatures. Thanks for sharing!
Very cool. The eye looks dented in. Or is that just a trick of the light?
Wow! If I had insects like this I would never want to come home. I would be in the woods all the time.
You call that ‘not-too-hard’?? I must be pretty slow because I was nowhere near getting that.
I confess to failing to see it in the original, even after consulting the “reveal”!
Obviously I’d go hungry, were I a predator. Luckily there is a local supermarket where the brands on offer seem to adopt the very opposite approach about displaying themselves. 🙂
That is one cool insect.
Got it! Am amazed by it.