Creature Feature #439: Leaf Insect

Just when you thought... New Year, New Letter, LemurKat pulls a final L creature out of her menagerie! This one was inspired by an episode of QI and *may* have been what I was really thinking of when I did "Leaf Beetle", which is also a creature (or large collection of creatures) but not as interesting a Thing as this Thing.

The Leaf Insects are a Family of insects closely related to the Stick Insects. She is named for her appearance and superb mimicry, resembling a leaf so convincingly that some individuals may even have nibbled edges as they are tasted by other (presumerably rather suprised) vegetarian insects. Her wings are vestigal, aiding to her appearance whereas the males are capable of flight. The males of some species are rarely - or never - seen and females reproduce pathogenically. She will lay up to 40 eggs upon reaching maturity. These hatch into little red nymphs which will gradually turn green as they eat leaves and grow.