Leaf Insects

The family Phylliidae (often misspelled Phyllidae) contains the extant true leaf insects or walking leaves, which include some of the most remarkably camouflaged leaf mimics (mimesis) in the entire animal kingdom. They occur from South Asia through Southeast Asia to Australia. Earlier sources treat Phylliidae as a much larger taxon, containing genera in what are presently considered to be several different families.

Characteristics

Leaf insects are well camouflaged, taking on the appearance of leaves. They do this so accurately that predators often are not able to distinguish them from real leaves. In some species, the edge of the leaf insect's body has the appearance of bite marks. To further confuse predators, when the leaf insect walks, it rocks back and forth, mimicking a real leaf being blown by the wind.

The scholar Antonio Pigafetta was probably the first Western person to document the creature, though it was known to people in the tropics for a long time. Sailing with Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigational expedition, he studied and chronicled the fauna on the island of Cimbonbon as the fleet hauled ashore for repairs. During this time he documented the ''Phyllium'' species with the following passage:

Tribes, genera and species

The subfamily Phylliinae has been divided into two tribes since 2003. This classification is not confirmed by more recent molecular genetics investigations. In addition to the fossil genus ''Eophyllium'', the subfamily distinguishes thirteen recent genera, eight of which have been described since 2017. Within the ''Phyllium'', previously there were several subgenera recognized, ''Pulchriphyllium'' Griffini, 1898 '' Comptaphyllium'' and ''Walaphyllium''. As of a 2021 phylogeny, all three subgenera are now considered separate genera .

Since 2021, in addition to morphological, molecular genetic studies have also increasingly been included in clarification of the phylogeny of Phylliidae. Their results show the general relationship between the genera, but when comparing female and male representatives, they do not yet provide a clear phylogenetic picture of the recent genera.

Cladograms of the Phylliidae species determined on the basis of molecular genetics analysis and morphological investigations according to Cumming and Le Tirant (2022):

The ''Phasmida Species File (V. 5.0)'' lists the following genera in two tribes:

Phylliini

Auth.
* '' Chitoniscus'' (Pacific)
** '' Chitoniscus feejeeanus''
** '' Chitoniscus lobipes''
** '' Chitoniscus lobiventris'' - type species (as ''Phyllium lobiventre'' )
* '' Comptaphyllium'' (Australasia)
** '' Comptaphyllium caudatum'' - type species (as ''Phyllium caudatum'' )
** '' Comptaphyllium regina''
** '' Comptaphyllium riedeli''
* '' Cryptophyllium'' ( SE Asia).
Selected species:
** '' Cryptophyllium athanysus''
** '' Cryptophyllium celebicum'' - type species (as ''Phyllium celebicum'' )
** '' Cryptophyllium westwoodii''
* '' Microphyllium'' (Northern Philippine Islands)
** '' Microphyllium haskelli''
** '' Microphyllium spinithorax'' - type species

* ''Phyllium'' (Sundaland, Philippine Islands, Wallacea, Australasia).
Selected species:
** ''Phyllium bilobatum''
** ''Phyllium hausleithneri''
** ''Phyllium jacobsoni''
** ''Phyllium letiranti''
** ''Phyllium siccifolium'' - type species (as ''Gryllus siccifolius'' )
* '' Pseudomicrophyllium'' (Northern Philippine Islands)
** '' Pseudomicrophyllium geryon''
** '' Pseudomicrophyllium pusillulum'' - type species (as ''Pseudomicrophyllium faulkneri'' )
* ''Pulchriphyllium'' (Seychelles, India, Western Indonesia, continental Asia)
Selected species:
** '' Pulchriphyllium bioculatum'' (
** '' Pulchriphyllium giganteum'' (
** '' Pulchriphyllium pulchrifolium'' - type species (as ''Phyllium pulchrifolium'' )
* '' Rakaphyllium'' (New Guinea and Ayu Islands)
** '' Rakaphyllium exsectum''
** '' Rakaphyllium schultzei'' – type species (as ''Pulchriphyllium schultzei'' )
* '' Trolicaphyllium'' (Pacific)
** '' Trolicaphyllium brachysoma'' - type species (as ''Phyllium brachysoma'' )
** '' Trolicaphyllium erosus''
** '' Trolicaphyllium sarrameaense''
* '' Vaabonbonphyllium'' (New Guinea and Solomon Islands)
** '' Vaabonbonphyllium groesseri'' ( – type species (as ''Phyllium groesseri'' )
** '' Vaabonbonphyllium rafidahae''
* ''Walaphyllium'' (Australasia)
** '' Walaphyllium lelantos''
** '' Walaphyllium monteithi''
** '' Walaphyllium zomproi'' - type species (as ''Phyllium zomproi'' )

Nanophylliini

Auth.
* '' Acentetaphyllium'' (New Guinea)
** '' Acentetaphyllium brevipenne'' – type species (as ''Phyllium brevipennis'' )
** '' Acentetaphyllium larssoni''
** '' Acentetaphyllium miyashitai''
** '' Acentetaphyllium stellae''
* '' Nanophyllium'' (Southern Indonesia, New Guinea, NE Australia)
** '' Nanophyllium adisi''
** '' Nanophyllium asekiense''
** '' Nanophyllium australianum''
** '' Nanophyllium chitoniscoides ''
** '' Nanophyllium daphne''
** '' Nanophyllium frondosum''
** '' Nanophyllium hasenpuschi''
** '' Nanophyllium keyicum''
** '' Nanophyllium pygmaeum'' – type species
** '' Nanophyllium rentzi''
** '' Nanophyllium suzukii''

Captivity

Several species have gained in popularity as pets including '' Cryptophyllium celebicum'', '' Cryptophyllium westwoodii'', ''Phyllium jacobsoni'', ''Phyllium ericoriai'', ''Phyllium siccifolium'', ''Phyllium letiranti'', '' Phyllium monteithi'', '' Phyllium philippinicum '', '' Phyllium rubrum'', '' Phyllium tobeloense'', '' Pulchriphyllium bioculatum'' and '' Pulchriphyllium giganteum'' .

Extinct species

A 47-million-year-old fossil of ''Eophyllium messelensis'', a prehistoric ancestor of Phylliidae, displays many of the same characteristics of modern leaf insects, indicating that this family has changed little over time.

References

Cumming, R. T.; Bank, S.; Bresseel, J.; Constant, J; Le Tirant, S.; Dong, Z.; Sonet, G. & Bradler, S.:
Cryptophyllium, the hidden leaf insects – descriptions of a new leaf insect genus and thirteen species from the former celebicum species group (Phasmatodea, Phylliidae)
'ZooKeys 1018: 1–179 (2021)
Cumming, R. T.; Le Tirant, S. & Büscher, T. H. (2021) ''Resolving a century-old case of generic mistaken identity: polyphyly of Chitoniscus sensu lato resolved with the description of the endemic New Caledonia ''Trolicaphyllium'' gen. nov. (Phasmatodea, Phylliidae)'', ZooKeys 1055: 1–41 (2021),
Cumming, R. T.; Teemsma, S. N. & Valero, P. (2018)
Description of Phyllium (Phyllium) conlei, new species, and a first look at the Phylliidae (Phasmatodea) of the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia
'. Insecta mundi. Center for Systematic Entomology, Inc., Gainesville, FL USA. 2018
Cumming, R. T.; Le Tirant, S. & Hennemann F. H. (2019)
Review of the Phyllium Illiger, 1798 of Wallacea, with description of a new subspecies from Morotai Island (Phasmatodea: Phylliidae: Phylliinae)
', Faunitaxys, 7(4), Saint-Etienne, 2019: 1 – 25.
Cumming, R. T.; Thurman, J. H.; Youngdale, S. & Le Tirant, S. (2020)
Walaphyllium subgen. nov., the dancing leaf insects from Australia and Papua New Guinea with description of a new species (Phasmatodea, Phylliidae)
' ZooKeys 939:5 (2020)
Bank, S.; Cumming, R. T.; Li, Y.; Henze, K.; Le Tirant, S. & Bradler, S. (2021
A tree of leaves: Phylogeny and historical biogeography of the leaf insects (Phasmatodea: Phylliidae)
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Cumming, R. T. & Le Tirant, S. (2022) ''Three new genera and one new species of leaf insect from Melanesia (Phasmatodea, Phylliidae)'', ZooKeys 1110: 151–200 (2022), doi:10.3897/zookeys.1110.80808

External links

*

Phasmid Study Group: Phylliidae

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q282198, from2=Q15240868

Phasmatodea families

Taxa named by Ludwig Redtenbacher

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