Scientists have discovered that the bright pink colour of the bush cricket species Arota festae is likely not an aberration as previously believed, but instead a well-timed trick to blend in.
Native to Panama, Colombia and Suriname, the leaf-shaped body and wing cases of Arota festae change from vivid pink to leaf green to apparently mimic the foliage shift in surrounding rainforest plants.
Researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s field station on Barro Colorado Island in Panama found a female specimen of Arota festae beneath an artificial light.
The insect, one of the onomatopoeic katydid species, was vivid pink when first encountered, but within 11 days had become green, without having moulted. A process that is mirrored within more than a third of the region’s freshly emerged tropical plants.
These plants produce high levels of anthocyanins, pigments present in fruits such as blueberries and raspberries, which give a pink colour to new leaves. This helps to protect the young leaves from intense sunlight and also acts as a deterrent to herbivores by appearing less palatable than the chlorophyll-rich green to which they would normally be drawn.
Imitating this process would appear to be hugely beneficial to Arota festae as it can consistently match the colour and shape of the leaves among which it lives. Although measuring only around 27mm long and weighing less than a gram, blending in is critical to avoid predators.
Dr Benito Wainwright, from the University of St Andrews and lead author of the study said, “Rather than a bizarre genetic quirk, this may actually be a finely tuned survival strategy that tracks the life cycle of the rainforest leaves this insect is trying to resemble.”
The research team, from the Universities of Reading, St Andrews and Amsterdam, alongside the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, proposed this process of colouration change following a 30-day study of the female Arota festae. While captive, the specimen was photographed daily, with the pink colour fading from ‘hot’ to ‘pastel’ after 4 days and then changing to the familiar green morph after 11 days.
Co-author of the study, Dr Matt Greenwell from the University of Reading, explained, “The idea that an insect might gradually shift colour to keep pace with the leaves it mimics shows how dynamic the rainforest can be, and is a remarkable example of camouflage in action.”
Top image: Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Credit: Mint Images/Getty Images
More amazing wildlife stories from around the world
- Snake Island, the terrifying island off Brazil that only scientists and soldiers can visit
- When scientists descended into an unexplored cave in the Cambodian mountains, they found a “treasure trove” in the darkness
- 100km-wide "hidden giant" discovered beneath Antarctic ice sheet
- Scientists looked beneath one of oldest trees on Earth. What they found is astounding
