Scientists have discovered that 100 million years ago insects "disguised" as moss

Reporters from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences learned that a team of Chinese and American palaeontologists recently discovered a new insect larvae disguised as moss plants in Cretaceous Burmese amber 100 million years ago. This discovery adds new and important clues to the ecological relationship between ancient organisms.
in the long geological history, a large number of insects evolved a variety of camouflage techniques, these camouflage techniques, the name of the edict. With its morphology of plants, insects can hide in the environment, avoid detection by arrested predators, and make it difficult for prey to detect themselves.
new insect species discovered this time has been named Huang's moss grasshog, belonging to the General Department of Pulsed Grasshops. Morphologically, the moss larvae in the fossils are different from all known grasshopping larvae: they have eight pairs of flat, wide leaf-like structures on their backs, shaped very much like mossy plants. In addition, their heads can be completely retracted under the "blades" of their backs, extending only a pair of long tentacles and a pair of pliers-like jaws at the front to detect and prey, respectively. This moss-like larvae are very similar to moss in their individual size, leaf-shaped arrangement, folds and lines of their leaves. By camouflaged moss, the researchers speculated, insects could evade predators and confuse prey, increasing the rate of success.
" moss plant is one of the earliest te tetanus plants, spread all over the world, providing food and shelter for insects. Our study is the first to directly see insects camouflage moss in fossils, providing new evidence for reconstructing the ecological relationship between ancient insects and plants. Wang Bo, a researcher at Nangu Institute and a participant in the study, said.
research results have been published online in the cell publishing group'
research. (Source: Xinhua News Agency, wang