Insect mimicry of plants dates back to the Permian

Romain Garrouste (1) , Sylvain Hugel (2) , Lauriane Jacquelin (1) , Pierre Rostan (3) , J.-Sébastien Steyer (4) , Laure Desutter-Grandcolas (1) , André Nel (1)

1 ISYEB - Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité
2 INCI - Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives
3 Mines and Avenir
4 CR2P - Centre de recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements

In response to predation pressure, some insects have developed spectacular plant mimicry strategies (homomorphy), involving important changes in their morphology. The fossil record of plant mimicry provides clues to the importance of predation pressure in the deep past. Surprisingly, to date, the oldest confirmed records of insect leaf mimicry are Mesozoic. Here we document a crucial step in the story of adaptive responses to predation by describing a leaf-mimicking katydid from the Middle Permian. Our morphometric analysis demonstrates that leaf-mimicking wings of katydids can be morphologically characterized in a non-arbitrary manner and shows that the new genus and species Permotettigonia gallica developed a mimicking pattern of forewings very similar to those of the modern leaf-like katydids. Our finding suggests that predation pressure was already high enough during the Permian to favour investment in leaf mimicry.

Domaines: Paléontologie

Romain Garrouste, Sylvain Hugel, Lauriane Jacquelin, Pierre Rostan, J.-Sébastien Steyer, et al.. Insect mimicry of plants dates back to the Permian. Nature Communications, 2016, 7, pp.13735. ⟨10.1038/ncomms13735⟩. ⟨hal-01436694⟩