Researchers find seven new species of leaf insects, underline importance of protecting Indian species

Washington, August 29

Advertisement

An international research team, including the University of Gottingen, has described seven previously unknown species of leaf insects, also known as walking leaves.

The insects belong to the stick and leaf insect order, which are known for their unusual appearance: they look confusingly similar to parts of plants such as twigs, bark or in the case of leaf insects leaves.

This sophisticated camouflage provides excellent protection from predators as well as presenting a challenge to researchers.

Genetic analysis enabled the researchers to discover “cryptic species”, which cannot be distinguished by their external appearance alone. The findings are not only important for the systematic study of leaf insects, but also for the protection of their diversity. The results were published in the scientific journal ZooKeys.

The results were published in ZooKeys, a scholarly magazine.

In the case of leaf insects, taxonomy, or the naming, describing, and categorisation of species, is challenging since it can be challenging to distinguish between members of various species while also allowing for significant variation within a single species.

“Individuals of different species are often counted as belonging to the same species based on their appearance. We were only able to identify some of the new species by their genetic characteristics,” explained the Project Lead, Dr Sarah Bank-Aubin, Gottingen University’s Animal Evolution and Biodiversity Department.

Some individual insects from India were previously thought to belong to a species that is widespread in Southeast Asia. But now the researchers have found out that they are a completely new species of leaf insects. Bank-Aubin emphasised, “The finding is important for species conservation: if all the individuals die out in India, it is not just a group within a species that is reduced, as was previously thought. In fact, a whole distinct species is being wiped out. This means that the Indian species is particularly important to protect.”

Other recently discovered species originate from the Philippines, Borneo, Vietnam, and Java.

The researchers from Gottingen University collaborated with City University of New York’s leading authority on leaf insects, Royce Cumming. The identification of more than twenty new species is the result of this research partnership.

Dr Sven Bradler, who has been researching the evolution of stick and leaf insects at the University of Gottingen for more than 20 years, explained, “There are around 3,500 known species of stick and leaf insects and there are currently just over 100 described species of leaf insect. Although they only make up a small fraction of this diverse family of insects, their spectacular and unexpected appearance makes them unique.”