Phylliidae


The family Phylliidae contains the extant true leaf insects or walking leaves, which include some of the most remarkably camouflaged leaf mimics 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. In the female this deceptive resemblance is enhanced by the large size and foliaceous form of the front wings which, when at rest edge to edge on the abdomen, forcibly suggest in their neuration the midrib and costae of an ordinary leaf.
The freshly hatched young are reddish in colour; but turn green after feeding for a short time upon leaves. Before death a specimen has been observed to pass through the various hues of a decaying leaf, and the spectrum of the green colouring matter does not differ from that of the chlorophyll of living leaves. Their egg capsules are similarly protected by their likeness to various seeds.
The scholar Antonio Pigafetta was probably the first Western person to document the species, 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 :



The Phasmida Species File lists the following genera in two tribes:

[Phylliini]

Auth.
  • Chitoniscus
  • * Chitoniscus feejeeanus
  • * Chitoniscus lobipes
  • * Chitoniscus lobiventris - type species
  • Comptaphyllium
  • * Comptaphyllium caudatum - type species
  • * Comptaphyllium regina
  • * Comptaphyllium riedeli
  • Cryptophyllium .
Selected species:
  • * Cryptophyllium athanysus
  • * Cryptophyllium celebicum - type species
  • * Cryptophyllium westwoodii
  • Microphyllium
  • * Microphyllium haskelli
  • * Microphyllium spinithorax - type species
File:The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Leaf insect.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Pulchriphyllium giganteum in the permanent collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
  • Phyllium .
Selected species:
  • * Phyllium bilobatum
  • * Phyllium hausleithneri
  • * Phyllium jacobsoni
  • * Phyllium letiranti
  • * Phyllium siccifolium - type species
  • Pseudomicrophyllium
  • * Pseudomicrophyllium geryon
  • * Pseudomicrophyllium pusillulum - type species
  • Pulchriphyllium
Selected species:
  • * Pulchriphyllium bioculatum
  • Rakaphyllium
  • * Rakaphyllium exsectum
  • * Rakaphyllium schultzei – type species
  • Trolicaphyllium
  • * Trolicaphyllium brachysoma - type species
  • * Trolicaphyllium erosus
  • * Trolicaphyllium sarrameaense
  • Vaabonbonphyllium
  • * Vaabonbonphyllium groesseri
  • * Vaabonbonphyllium rafidahae
  • Walaphyllium
  • * Walaphyllium lelantos
  • * Walaphyllium monteithi
  • * Walaphyllium zomproi - '''type species'''

    [Nanophylliini]

Auth.
  • Acentetaphyllium
  • * Acentetaphyllium brevipenne – type species
  • * Acentetaphyllium larssoni
  • * Acentetaphyllium miyashitai
  • * Acentetaphyllium stellae
  • Nanophyllium
  • * 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.