Leaf-Footed Insects Are The Best Wrestlers Of All Bugs

The world is full of strange looking bugs, and leaf-footed insects are certainly not an exception. There are over two thousand different species of leaf-footed insects in the world, and they are mostly located in tropical regions. This insect will make you look twice upon seeing it, and this is due to its large and odd-looking hind feet. However, these feet are effective weapons in the insect community, and these bugs are not shy about using their menacing feet when feeling territorial. These strange hind legs also make these particular insects skilled wrestlers.

22573679 – leaf footed bug anisoscelis flavolineata on a passion fruit, bocas del toro, panama

According to Christine Miller, an assistant professor of entomology at the University of Florida, male leaf-footed insects are very possessive with females, and they will often use their hind legs to fight off other competing males that are nearby. Of course, these insects also use their damaging feet to protect their food. Miller goes on to say that watching these insects engage in battle can be engrossing. Sometimes these insects will frantically kick one another, and other times their fighting style looks a little more like wrestling.

When these insects are found wrestling each other, they will lock their legs together until one of them gives up and forfeits the fight, and probably his sense of dignity as well. These wrestling matches can last for only a few minutes, or as long as a few hours. However, Miller has also noted that these insects never seem to wind up killing each other, so in a way, these bugs are even more considerate of their opponents than we humans sometimes are. The vast majority of animal life on this planet will fight over mates and resources, but finding an animal that fights solely with its hind legs is truly unique. Miller has studied numerous species of leaf-footed bugs, and they all have their strange weaponized body parts. Miller compares the fights between leaf-footed insects to mixed martial arts combat, as each species seems to have a different fighting style.

Where were you when you saw the strangest looking insect that you had ever seen? Do you know what type of insect you were looking at?