Cambodia Reveals Many Treasures

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Stéphane De Greef has been photographing some really wonderful species in Siem Reap, Cambodia for Meet Your Neighbours. One subject in particular has really captured my imagination. This little unidentified species of planthopper (Eurybrachyidae sp) seems to have two faces. However one side is simply a false face, which may serve the insect by distracting predators away from its vital organs. During a discussion about the photo on Facebook, Piotr Naskrecki pointed out that this may be an example of “automimicry” where an animal is not necessarily mimicking another particular animal but suggesting some other thing that might be tempting or threatening to a predator. As Stéphane says, Cambodia can be Terra-Incognito when it comes to our knowledge of its invertebrate fauna. Without a doubt, his work will continue to reveal new neighbors that no one knew we had!