Australian leaf insect
The Australian leaf insect looks just like a leaf, right down to the little lines of the veins. It lives in the rainforests of tropical Queensland. When it sways gently from side to side, it looks like a leaf moving in the wind.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Australian leaf insect compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Females are big, broad and flat like a leaf, while males are slimmer and have proper wings to fly.
Its colour can be anything from bright green to orange, so it matches the leaves around it.
Leaf insects that eat golden penda leaves often turn orange or red.
A female can lay eggs that hatch even without a male.
Insect fans keep it as a pet, but it needs plenty of room to hang down when it changes its skin.
Most asked questions about Australian leaf insect
?What does the Australian leaf insect eat?
Leaves of many plants, such as lilly pilly, guava, eucalyptus, bramble and roses.
?How big is the Australian leaf insect?
Males are about 6 centimetres long and females up to about 7.5 centimetres.
?Is the Australian leaf insect dangerous?
No. Its only tricks are hiding, swaying like a leaf and making a funny smell.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Walaphyllium monteithi
- Group
- Stick and leaf insects
- Family
- Phylliidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Phasmatodea > Phylliidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Walaphyllium monteithi (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 Cumming RT, Thurman JH, Youngdale S, Tirant SL (2020) Walaphyllium subgen. nov., the dancing leaf insects from Australia and Papua New Guinea with description o. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Lord Howe Island stick insect
Giant prickly stick insect
Common walkingstick
Two-striped walkingstick
Indian stick insect
Goliath stick insect
Colombian dwarf tiger tarantula
Papuan hermit spider
Giant land snail
Common redeye
Sugarcane looper
Chestnut bob_Figure_1.jpg){kind=link}