D. desiccata takes its common name from its resemblance to dead, leafy vegetation including having a flattened, greatly extended thorax and “intricate leaf patterns” on its wings.

This creature’s camouflage is aided by its movements as well as its appearance. When disturbed, it rocks gently as if caught in the breeze. When threatened, it typically falls to the ground and lies motionless. It can also react with a threatening display consisting of “black underwings splayed out, with large eyespots.

As its common name indicates, D. desiccata is larger than other species of Dead Leaf Mantis. Females grow to 8-10cm long, whilst males grow 7-10cm long. Females’ prothorax shields end in a sharp pointed curve on each side while the males have a rounder shape.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deroplatys_desiccata

subfamily Deroplatyinae
tribe Deroplatyini
genus Deroplatys Westwood, 1839

species Deroplatys desiccata Westwood, 1839

urn:lsid:Mantodea.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:2071

• Ecology:
  • Terrestrial.
• Specimen records are available.
• Citations (15):
  • Westwood. 1839. Intr. Classif. Ins. 1:430 >> Note: Deroplatys
  • Westwood. 1840. Natural. Libr., Jardine, Intr. Ent. 234, pl. 9
  • de Haan. 1842. Verh. Nat. gesch. Nederl. Bezitt. Ins. 91
  • Westwood. 1845. Arcana Ent. 1:33, addenda >> Note: Deroplatys
  • Saussure. 1869. Mitt. schweiz. ent. Ges. 3:72
  • Saussure. 1871. Mem. Soc. Hist. nat. Geneve 21:314
  • Shelford. 1903. Zoologist 4 7:295, 296, 304
  • Kirby. 1904. Syn. Cat. Orth. 1:281
  • Hebard. 1920. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad. 72:47
  • Werner. 1923. Treubia 3(3-4):393 >> Note: of Indonesia
  • Werner. 1924. Treubia 5:259 >> Note: in Indonesia
  • Giglio-Tos. 1927. Tierreich 50:340
  • Werner. 1927. Treubia 9(4):417
  • Werner. 1933. Treubia 14:255 >> Note: of Indomalaysia
  • Beier. 1935. Genera Insect. 201:6 >> Note: Deroplatys
• Type specimen information:
  • Type locality:
  • Kind of type:  unspecified primary type

• synonym arida Westwood, 1845
• synonym palliata de Haan, 1842