lacewing larva from Chiang Mai, Thailand. Known colloquially as aphid lions or "trash bugs," some of these predatory larvae collect debris and pile it on top of themselves for camouflage, rendering them practically invisible in a world full of nondescript clumps of random organic material.
Almost immediately upon my arrival at Cocobolo Nature Reserve in Panama, Stephane de Greef brought me to a small tree and proudly challenged me to "find the bug." To my amazement, there were three of these enormous saturniid moth caterpillars (Arsenura sp.).on the tree, each one precisely mimicking the color and dimensions of their host plant's branches.
