We heard the call of the Giant Pitta at a hillside ridge after hiking for 2 hours. This was our target for the visit to Danum Valley, Borneo last October. Unfortunately it refused to show despite waiting for hours. To pass time we went looking for other creatures on the forest floor. This very rare Pink Katydid was right in front of our noses and we almost missed it. Another gem in the Borneo Rain Forest. It did not take away the disappointment of dipping on the pitta but it helped.
This was taken with my Samsung handphone. This Kadydid will not move one feeler to try and pretend to be a young leave.
Despite its color it did not stand out in the forest as it managed to find some young pink leaves to blend in. It just pretended to look like a new shoot. We could get very close to it and it will not move a single part of its body. This is part of its survival strategy. The more common green Katydid does not have this problem to hide from its predators.
It managed to find this plant with young pinkish leaves to blend in as much as possible.
So why does a Katydid want to turn pink in a green forest? Apparently it has no choice. The genetics will supply this reddish pigment to one in five hundred kadydids as a quirk of nature due to a condition known as erythrism. It also give them the instinct on how to survive.
Wild Asia 