Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Did you spot all nine leaf insects in today’s photo from the New York Times taken by Hsin-hsiung Chen? Here’s the reveal (click photo to enlarge): If you can’t see them, it’s a clue that sharp-sighted birds, who hunt these using vision, can’t easily see them either.
The pictures of leaf insects below come from a cool science story in the New York Times about this fabulous family of fantastic mimics (Phylliidae). The story has a lovely twist, as the females look like leaves while the males look like sticks, and for many years scientists thought the sexes were members of different … Continue reading Spot the leaf insects!
Matthew sent this tweet which shows a cryptic antlion—the predatory larva of a neuropteran insect in the family Myrmeleontidae, whose flying adult looks like a lacewing. (The adults are much less well known than these predatory larvae, which I used to keep as pets as a child). This is rated very easy, but we haven’t … Continue reading Spot the antlion!
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. … Continue reading Spot the insect, from Piotr Naskrecki
As I’m occupied today, there will be one wildlife photo, and it’ll be a “spot the. . . ” picture. It comes from reader Siegfried Gust, who sent other photos that I’ll include in the reveal. For now, spot the katydid, As Siegfried notes: Greetings from Costa Rica. I came across a lichen mimicking katydid … Continue reading Readers’ wildlife photo: spot the katydid
Did you find it? Here’s the original picture by Siggy, followed by the reveal, and then a photo of the insect on the lumber where he found it and on the lichen it seems to mimic. Original: Reveal: On a board: On lichen: Siggy added this: I found this PDF that seems to describe the same … Continue reading Here’s the katydid!
