近日，中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所黄迪颖团队研究了侏罗纪昆虫独特的叶片拟态。该项研究成果发表在2025年8月28日出版的《地质学》杂志上。

动物在选择压力下进化出了多种防御策略，模仿是昆虫的重要生存策略。叶子模仿在现代生态系统中广泛存在，但其化石记录仍然很少，通常缺乏目标植物或明确形态适应的直接证据。

研究组报告了来自道湖沟生物群（约2000年）的侏罗纪直足动物（蚱蜢和蟋蟀，包括蝈蝈）的三个叶片模仿的新案例（163.5 Ma，中国东北）。其中前翅表现出高度专业化的对比色图案，与大量共存的bennettitalean（已灭绝的种子，苏铁类）叶子非常相似。这些案例提供了第一个明确的证据，证明模仿昆虫和它们的植物模型都保存在同一层理平面上。

这代表了侏罗纪中第一个已知的直翅动物模仿的实例，填补了化石记录的空白，并表明叶片模仿是直翅动物长期以来的一种适应策略，在整个地质历史中独立地在不同的谱系中进化。这一发现强调了植物群落演替、捕食压力和昆虫防御策略之间的动态相互作用，扩大了他们对矫形动物叶片模仿的生态学意义和进化的理解。

附：英文原文

Title: Unique leaf mimicry in Jurassic insects

Author: Yanzhe Fu, Chong Dong, Dolev Fabrikant, Chenyang Cai, Carolin Haug, Joachim T. Haug, Diying Huang

Issue&Volume: 2025-08-28

Abstract: Animals have evolved diverse defensive strategies under selective pressures, with mimicry being a crucial survival strategy for insects. Leaf mimicry is widespread in modern ecosystems, yet its fossil record remains sparse, often lacking direct evidence of target plant or clear morphological adaptations. We report three novel cases of leaf mimicry in Jurassic orthopterans (grasshoppers and crickets, including katydids) (Prophalangopsidae) from the Daohugou biota (ca. 163.5 Ma, northeastern China), in which the forewings exhibit highly specialized contrasting color patterns that closely resemble the abundantly co-occurring bennettitalean (extinct seed-bearing, cycad-like group) leaves. These cases provide the first unambiguous evidence in which both the mimicking insects and their plant models are preserved in the same bedding plane. It represents the first known instance of orthopteran mimicry in the Jurassic, fills a gap in the fossil record, and suggests that leaf mimicry has been a long-standing adaptive strategy in Orthoptera, independently evolving across different lineages throughout geological history. This finding highlights the dynamic interplay between plant community succession, predation pressures, and insect defensive strategies, expanding our understanding of the ecological significance and evolution of leaf mimicry in orthopterans.

DOI: 10.1130/G53399.1

Source: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/doi/10.1130/G53399.1/660858/Unique-leaf-mimicry-in-Jurassic-insectsredirectedFrom=fulltext