Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Leaf-mimicking katydids from the Middle Miocene of Yunnan, southwestern China (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
PalZ Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The first fossil leaf-mimicking katydids from the eastern Palaearctic are described and attributed to the genus Archepseudophylla under the names Archepseudophylla nanzhaoica sp. nov. and Archepseudophylla wenshanensis sp. nov., both from the Early to Middle Miocene strata in Wenshan, Yunnan, southwestern China, which is the core of the southwestern China karst region. This pseudophylline genus was previously known only from the Eocene–Oligocene of Europe, and is indicative of warm temperate to subtropical paleoclimatic conditions within the Yunnan region during this stage of the Miocene.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources of Yunnan Province (BGMRYP). 1990. Regional geology of Yunnan Province. Beijing: Geological Publishing House. (in Chinese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Burmeister, H. 1838. Kaukerfe, Gymnognatha (Erste Hälfte: Vulgo Orthoptera). Handbuch der Entomologie 2(2)[I-VIII]: 397–756. Berlin: Enslin.

  • Castner, J.L., and D.A. Nickle. 1995. Intraspecific color polymorphism in leaf-mimicking katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Pseudophyllinae: Pterochrozini). Journal of Orthoptera Research 4: 99–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, S., X. Yin, X. Lin, C. Shih, R. Zhang, T. Gao, and D. Ren. 2018. Stick insect in Burmese amber reveals an early evolution of lateral lamellae in the Mesozoic. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285: 20180425.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cockerell, T.D.A. 1921. Fossil arthropods in the British Museum, VI. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (series 9) 7: 453–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Compiling Group of the Regional Stratigraphic Table of Yunnan (CGRSTY). 1978. Regional stratigraphic table of SW China: Yunnan volume. Beijing: Geological Publishing House. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Desutter-Grandcolas, L. 2003. Phylogeny and the evolution of acoustic communication in extant Ensifera (Insecta, Orthoptera). Zoologica Scripta 32: 525–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong, W. 2001. Upper Cenozoic stratigraphy and paleoenvironment of Xiaolongtan basin, Kaiyuan, Yunnan. In Proceedings of the 8th Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, eds. T. Deng and Y. Wang, 91–100. Beijing: China Ocean Press. (in Chinese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Edmunds, M. 1974. Defence in animals: a survey of anti-predator defences. Harlow: Longman Publishing Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrouste, R., S. Hugel, L. Jacquelin, P. Rostan, J.-S. Steyer, L. Desutter-Grandcolas, and A. Nel. 2016. Insect mimicry of plants dates back to the Permian. Nature Communications 7(13735): 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorochov, A.V. 1988. The classification and phylogeny of grasshoppers (Gryllida–Orthoptera, Tettigonioidea. In The cretaceous Biocoenotic Crisis and the evolution of insects, ed. A. Pomerenko, 145–190. Moscow: Nauka. (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gwynne, D.T. 1995. Phylogeny of the Ensifera (Orthoptera): a hypothesis supporting multiple origins of acoustical signalling, complex spermatophores and maternal care in crickets, katydids, and weta. Journal of Orthoptera Research 4: 203–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gwynne, D.T. 2001. Katydids and Bush-Crickets: reproductive behavior and evolution of the Tettigoniidae. Ithaca, London: Comstock Publishing Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, J., T. Su, L.-B. Jia, T. Spicer, and Z.-K. Zhou. 2018. A fossil fig from the Miocene of southwestern China: indication of persistent deep time karst vegetation. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 258: 133–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jia, L.-B., S.R. Manchester, T. Su, Y.-W. Xing, W.-Y. Chen, Y.-J. Huang, and Z.-K. Zhou. 2015. First occurrence of Cedrelospermum (Ulmaceae) in Asia and its biogeographic implications. Journal of Plant Research 128: 747–761.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krauss, H.A. 1902. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Orthopterenfauna der Sahara. Verhandlungen der zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 52(4): 230–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lebreton-Anberrée, J., S. Li, S.-F. Li, R.A. Spicer, S.-T. Zhang, T. Su, C. Deng, and Z.-K. Zhou. 2016. Lake geochemistry reveals marked environmental change in Southwest China during the Mid Miocene Climatic Optimum. Science Bulletin 61: 897–910.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leroy, Y. 1985. Le camouflage chez les sauterelles Tettigonioidea. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 90: 1051–1071.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, S.-F., L.-M. Mao, R.A. Spicer, J. Lebreton-Anberrée, T. Su, M. Sun, and Z.-K. Zhou. 2015a. Late Miocene vegetation dynamics under monsoonal climate in southwestern China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 425: 14–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, S.-H., C.-L. Deng, W. Dong, L. Sun, S.-Z. Liu, H.-F. Qin, J.-Y. Yin, X.-P. Ji, and R.-X. Zhu. 2015b. Magnetostratigraphy of the Xiaolongtan Formation bearing Lufengpithecus keiyuanensis in Yunnan, southwestern China: constraint on the initiation time of the southern segment of the Xianshuihe-Xiaojiang fault. Tectonophysics 655: 213–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, X., G. Shi, F. Xia, X. Lu, B. Wang, and M.S. Engel. 2018. Liverwort mimesis in a Cretaceous lacewing larva. Current Biology 28: 1475–1481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malcom, S.B. 1990. Mimicry: status of a classical evolutionary paradigm. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 5: 57–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meng, H.-H., F.M.B. Jacques, T. Su, Y.-J. Huang, S.-T. Zhang, H.-J. Ma, and Z.-K. Zhou. 2014. New biogeographic insight into Bauhinia s.l. (Leguminosae): integration from fossil records and molecular analyses. BMC Evolutionary Biology 14: 181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mugleston, J.D. 2016. The Tettigoniidae (Orthoptera: Ensifera): phylogeny, origins, and leaf-like crypsis. PhD thesis, Brigham Young University. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6441/. Accessed 5 November 2018.

  • Mugleston, J., M. Naegle, H. Song, S.M. Bybee, S. Ingley, A. Suvorov, and M.F. Whiting. 2016. Reinventing the leaf: multiple origins of leaf-like wings in katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Invertebrate Systematics 30: 335–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mugleston, J.D., H. Song, and M.F. Whiting. 2013. A century of paraphyly: a molecular phylogeny of katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) supports multiple origins of leaf-like wings. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 69: 1120–1134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nel, A., J. Prokop, and A.J. Ross. 2008. New genus of leaf-mimicking katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from the late eocene—early Oligocene of France and England. Comptes Rendus Palevol 7(4): 211–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nickle, D.A., and J.L. Castner. 1995. Strategies utilized by katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) against diurnal predators in rainforests of northeastern Peru. Journal of Orthoptera Research 4: 75–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Otte, D., and P. Naskrecki. 2018. Orthoptera species file online, Katydids or bush-crickets (Tettigonioidea). http://www.tettigonia.com/. Accessed 14 March 2018.

  • Papier, F., A. Nel, L. Grauvogel-Stamm, and J.-C. Gall. 1997. La plus ancienne sauterelle Tettigoniidae (Orthoptera), (Trias, N.E. France): mimétisme ou exaptation? Paläontologische Zeitschrift 71: 71–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prokop, J., J. Szwedo, J. Lapeyrie, R. Garrouste, and A. Nel. 2015. New middle Permian insects from Salagou Formation of the Lodève Basin in southern France (Insecta: Pterygota). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (N.S.) 51(1): 14–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Su, T., Y.-J. Huang, J. Meng, S.-T. Zhang, J. Huang, and Z.-K. Zhou. 2016. A Miocene leaf fossil record of Rosa (R. fortuita n. sp.) from its modern diversity center in SW China. Palaeoworld 25: 104–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Théobald, N. 1937. Les insectes fossiles des terrains oligocènes de France. Bulletin mensuel de la Société des Sciences de Nancy 1: 1–473.

    Google Scholar 

  • Umbers, K.D.L., and J. Mappes. 2015. Postattack deimatic display in the mountain katydid, Acripeza reticulata. Animal Behaviour 100: 68–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vignon, P. 1931. Le camouflage animal. Nature 59: 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, M., O. Béthoux, S. Bradler, F.M.B. Jacques, Y. Cui, and D. Ren. 2014. Under cover at pre-angiosperm times: a cloaked phasmatodean insect from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota. PLoS One 9: e91290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., C.C. Labandeira, C. Shih, Q. Ding, C. Wang, Y. Zhao, and D. Ren. 2012. Jurassic mimicry between a hangingfly and a ginkgo from China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109: 20514–20519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wedmann, S. 2010. A brief review of the fossil history of plant masquerade by insects. Palaeontographica (B: Paläophytologie) 283(4–6): 175–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J.-W., A. D’Rozario, J.M. Adams, Y. Li, X.-Q. Liang, F.M.B. Jacques, T. Su, and Z.-K. Zhou. 2015a. Sequoia maguanensis, a new Miocene relative of the coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, from China: implications for paleogeography and paleoclimate. American Journal of Botany 102: 103–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J.-W., J. Huang, A. D’Rozario, J.M. Adams, and Z.-K. Zhou. 2015b. Calocedrus shengxianensis, a late Miocene relative of C. macrolepis (Cupressaceae) from South China: implications for paleoclimate and evolution of the genus. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 222: 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Q.-Y., J. Huang, L.-B. Jia, T. Su, Z.-K. Zhou, and Y.-W. Xing. 2018. Miocene Ulmus fossil fruits from Southwest China and their evolutionary and biogeographic implications. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 259: 198–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y.-Z. 1997. Lithostratigraphy in Yunnan Province. Wuhan: China University of Geosciences Press. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank members of the Palaeoecology Research Group in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, the Chinese Academy of Sciences for the collection of fossil material. We acknowledge Eberhard "Dino" Frey and Sarah Stinnesbeck, both of Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe (SMNK), for photographs of the material of A. fossilis from their collection. Special thanks also to Olivier Béthoux, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, and Daniela Matenaar, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, for discussion on tettigonid wing venation. We are also indebted to Dany Azar, Mike Reich, and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. U1502231 to ZKZ, no. 4161101253 and no. 31470325 to TS), the grant for excellent young scientists in CAS (no. QYZDB-SSW-SMC016 to TS), Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS (no. 2017439 to TS), as well as a grant from the Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute, CAS (no. Y4ZK111B01 to TS).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Systématique Evolution Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université des Antilles, EPHE, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, 75005, Paris, France

    André Nel

  2. State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Bo Wang

  3. Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Depositional Mineralization and Sedimentary Minerals, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, Shandong, China

    Bo Wang

  4. Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 1501 Crestline Drive – Suite 140, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045-4415, USA

    Michael S. Engel

  5. Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024-5192, USA

    Michael S. Engel

  6. Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, China

    Jian Huang & Tao Su

  7. Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China

    Lin-Bo Jia

  8. Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yezin, NayPyiTaw, 05282, Myanmar

    Tao Su

  9. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Tao Su

  10. Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Friedensplatz 1, 64283, Darmstadt, Germany

    Torsten Wappler

Authors
  1. André Nel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bo Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael S. Engel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jian Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Lin-Bo Jia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Tao Su
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Torsten Wappler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to André Nel or Torsten Wappler.

Additional information

Handling editor: Mike Reich.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nel, A., Wang, B., Engel, M.S. et al. Leaf-mimicking katydids from the Middle Miocene of Yunnan, southwestern China (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). PalZ 94, 255–261 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-019-00488-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-019-00488-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation