Leaf Insect — A Leaf with Legs
Leaf insects · family Phylliidae
A flattened body and leaf-like legs make an insect resemble part of a plant.
Camouflage / Natural adaptation
Lithops — Plants Disguised as Stones
Rounded leaf pairs resemble the pebbles around them.
TRY THIS
Cover the yellow flowers with your hand. Compare the grey-green leaf tops with the gravel. Then uncover the flowers and notice how readily they reveal the plants.
FOLLOW THE SOURCES
History, evidence & image credit
THE IMAGE IN THIS ARCHIVE
Abu Shawka
Original file & attribution · CC BY-SA 3.0
This locally stored image is a Wikimedia Commons rendition (resized or rendered from the source file). The full original is linked from the source record. Gallery previews may be resized or converted to WebP; animated previews show the first frame.
Download imageFrequently asked questions
What is Lithops — Plants Disguised as Stones?
Rounded leaf pairs resemble the pebbles around them.
What should I look for in Lithops — Plants Disguised as Stones?
Cover the yellow flowers with your hand. Compare the grey-green leaf tops with the gravel. Then uncover the flowers and notice how readily they reveal the plants.
What explains Lithops — Plants Disguised as Stones?
Muted colour, small size and rounded form reduce the difference between a plant and its stony background. A herbivore may overlook a leaf pair or mistake it for a pebble. This combines background matching with masquerade.
Another way to see it
Explore this category
Peppered Moth — Disappearing into Bark
Biston betularia
Speckled wings repeat the tones and texture of tree bark.
Arctic Fox — A Coat for the Season
Vulpes lagopus
A winter coat makes a white fox difficult to separate from snow.