Westwood's leaf insect
Cryptophyllium westwoodii
Westwood's leaf insect looks just like a green leaf with legs. Its flat body even has lines like the veins of a real leaf. This disguise helps it hide from birds and other hungry animals.
Lives in
Southern China, Myanmar, Indochina, the Andaman Islands and Sumatra
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It has no sting and does not bite people.
What does it eat?
It eats the leaves of trees and bushes.
How fast is it?
A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)
Westwood's leaf insect about 0.1 km/h (0.06 mph)
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Leaf insects are close cousins of stick insects, which look like twigs.
2
When it walks, it can rock gently back and forth, like a leaf moving in the wind.
3
It lives on the mainland of Southeast Asia and on islands like Sumatra and the Andaman Islands.
you asked
Most asked questions about Westwood's leaf insect
?What does Westwood's leaf insect eat?
It eats leaves from trees and bushes.
?Is Westwood's leaf insect dangerous?
No. It is completely harmless and only wants to hide.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Cryptophyllium westwoodii
- Group
- Stick and leaf insects
- Family
- Phylliidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Phasmatodea > Phylliidae
- Lives on
- Asia
Where the facts come from
- Cryptophyllium westwoodii (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Daniel Dittmar. CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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