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Beetle or bite mark? Leaf beetles are disguising themselves as the holes and scrapes they make on leaves while eating. Although many insects trick predators by mimicking objects like twigs and leaves, this is the first instance of feeding damage being used as a decoy.

from Stony Brook University in New York and his colleagues had trouble picking out on heavily-chewed leaves, and decided to investigate. They analysed photographs of 119 species alongside the size, shape and colour of their bite patterns. Most species resembled their own bite marks, even those that were distantly related, suggesting that the behaviour evolved independently.

鈥淚 was astonished,鈥� says Vencl. He says the beetles鈥� bodies probably evolved to look like their bite damage, as well as the other way around.

One group of these insects, the , are agile jumpers that can catapult themselves to safety in an instant. But they are intensely hunted by birds, so may need more than one strategy. Vencl suspects hiding behind their bite marks came first and that jumping evolved later as a back-up. 鈥淲e want to look at the history of their feeding masquerade,鈥� he says.

In a further twist, the beetles鈥� feeding damage doesn鈥檛 seem to trigger the plant鈥檚 usual defence mechanisms, like the release of chemicals. This implies they are concealing themselves from their hosts as well, perhaps tricking the plant into thinking it has been damaged by the wind, for example, rather than by a munching insect.