Bright pink insect stands out to blend in, scientists say
by the University of Reading
March 16, 2026
A tropical insect has been found to change colour from vivid hot pink to green within a fortnight, which scientists believe may mimic the young leaves of rainforest plants.
The findings, published this week in the journal Ecology, focuses on Arota festae, a leaf-masquerading katydid also known as a “bush cricket”, native to Panama, Colombia and Suriname.
When researchers spotted an adult female beneath a light at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s field station on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, she was an unmistakeable hot pink. Eleven days later, she was completely green.
Scientists from the University of St Andrews, University of Reading, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and University of Amsterdam, propose that the pink colouration evolved to mimic “delayed greening”, a phenomenon in which newly emerged tropical leaves flush vivid shades of pink or red before maturing to green.
Keep reading: https://www.reading.ac.uk/news/2026/Research-News/Bright-pink-insect-stands-out-to-blend-in-scientists-say
Read the Ecology paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70333