Can An Insect's Camouflage Be *Too* Good?

Call them stick bugs, walkingsticks, leaf insects, or phasmids, insects in the order Phasmatodea are masters of disguise. But why would an insect want to look like a plant? We decided to go to the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium to find out for ourselves.

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[mikamekaze]

I know it isn't always feasible, but I would LOVE more episodes that actually feature the beasties they're about!

[NicholasHay]

A Little Bit of Accidental Cannibalism is my new lounge metal band name

[hchiam]

i wonder if birds ever accidentally land on stick insects?

[anyascelticcreations]

I raised greater anglewing katydids once. I found 2 on the ground after a storm and brought them home. Turns out they were a male and female and left me lots of eggs. Twelve of those hatched and I had the pleasure of watching them grow.

They were absolutely beautiful. Bright green and looked exactly like leaves. Even their legs each looked like the stem of a leaf.

I kept their enclosure stocked with branches with lots of delicious leaves. Even with 12 of them in there they seemed almost impossible to find. I used to make a point to find everyone each morning to make sure everyone was okay. And it was like Where's Waldo trying to find them in there. Lol

They sang for their mates, too. The males would start and the females would answer back. They rub their wings together to make their sound like crickets do, which are actually related to katydids.

These really were such enjoyable little critters to have. I would love to have some again someday.

[vezokpiraka]

The little leaf guy at the end of the main part actually looked super friendly. It was waving you bye like it was saying "Hello friend, what's up?". Which is really cool cause I've never really seen these insects do that type of movement before. I think it liked your hairstyle.

[mike_stevens]

The tree lobster (aka the Lord Howe Island stick insect) deserves its own episode! These large guys were thought to be extinct in the early 1900s due to the introduction of rats to Lord Howe Island. But then they were discovered on Ball's Pyramid, a tall column of rock that juts out from the ocean between Australia and New Zealand (which really doesn't get at how weird/awesome Ball's Pyramid actually is). Since then, they've been bred with the intention of reintroducing them to Lord Howe Island.

[fakjbf]

“How does one act like a leaf” that reminded me of Wash from Firefly and now I’m sad.

[uumlaut-]

There is something beautiful about a seed-like egg turning into plant-like animals

[Carlos-vnec]

love that when you start talking about the accidental cannibalism the leaf insect stops like it never considered that might happen.
Also omg those tree lobsters are enormous! how do bugs get that big!?

[davidfalterman]

Seeing you be visibly delighted holding these li’l critters was very nice energy for my lunch break. What a good bunch of insect pals!

[arthursamuel]

That shot at the butterfly house is straight up magical

[Renastarsong]

‘Phyllium’ sounds like his mum couldn’t decide between ‘Phillip’ and ‘William’ looool

[Nmethyltransferase]

Leaf Insect1: "Ow!"

Leaf Insect2: "Sorry, bro!"

Leaf Insect1: "I mean, I don't like being bitten. But I'm flattered that my disguise is that good!"

Leaf Insect2: "Oh yeah, I totally thought you were a leaf. Top tier leaf insecting!"

Leaf Insect1: "Thanks. Be well!"

Leaf Insect2: "Deuces!"

[NewMessage]

I'll _stick_ around for this one...

[stoneforest]

I remember taking in an old stick but from outside and putting them in a little terrarium with sticks and leaves. And it didn’t move. At all. Not at night. Never. Would not move. But if I blew on it, it would wobble, and take a step. So I put a mini fan on it, and it wobble wobbled around and ate some of the leaves :D

[laurayoubetcha]

I work in the Tropical Butterfly exhibit at the Tucson Botanical Gardens and I've always been super curious to know more about the evolutionary mechanisms for biomimicry. I haven't been able to find many specifics on how creatures like Phasmids "know" what their surroundings look like, let a lone how to make themselves look like them. Lots of tropical Lepidopterans have this type of mimicry, resembling birds or reptiles to deter predators. But If you or SciShow could do a video on that, I'd absolutely love it! Thanks for all the work you all do, your videos are my fav.

[okidoxb]

it looks like a seed, then an ant baby, then a stick leaf? New Plant Bug type pokemon?!

[paulkinzer]

Wow! I love that you went on location to show actual, living examples of your cray critters. The thing that's always helped me to love these guys is the way they move. I've never seen a leaf insect in the 'flesh', but I've found a couple of stick insects. It was like finding hidden treasure right under my nose. So cool!

[Defender_messenger]

Imagine your whole life cycle being one big identity crisis 😂

I finally got a rare pin this month! I love the bizarre beast pin club.

[RedshirtAfficionado]

“Or, you could eat sone reeds

Yum yum :)” -Insulindian Phasmid