Deroplatys lobata, common name Southeast Asian dead leaf mantis or dead leaf mantis, is a species of praying mantis that inhabits Thailand, Java, Borneo, Indonesia, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.

This mantis mimics dead leaves not only in appearance, but in the way they sway in all directions, especially when eating, in order to mimic leaves swaying in the wind (a tactic adopted to fool potential predators).

Females reach ~7-9cm in length and males ~3-4cm in length. Their colouring ranges from dark gray to almost black, and also a rusty red to orange/yellow. They also possess a broad prothorax that looks ripped and crumpled like a leaf. Females have a wider shield than males as early as the 4th instar stage. Males have a slender body and a diamond shape shield.

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

subfamily Deroplatyinae
tribe Deroplatyini
genus Deroplatys Westwood, 1839

species Deroplatys lobata Guerin-Meneville, 1838

urn:lsid:Mantodea.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:2069

• Ecology:
  • Terrestrial.
• Specimen records are available.
• Citations (7):
  • Guerin-Meneville. 1838. Mag. Zool., 8, Ins. 69, fig. 134 >> Note: Choeradodis
  • Westwood. 1845. Arcana Ent. 1:34 >> Note: Deroplatys
  • Saussure. 1869. Mitt. schweiz. ent. Ges. 3:72
  • Saussure. 1871. Mem. Soc. Hist. nat. Geneve 21:314
  • Kirby. 1904. Syn. Cat. Orth. 1:281
  • Giglio-Tos. 1927. Tierreich 50:343
  • Beier. 1935. Genera Insect. 201:6 >> Note: Deroplatys
• Type specimen information:
  • Type locality:
  • Kind of type:  unspecified primary type

• synonym brunneri Kirby, 1904