‘Cryptic’ creature — ‘confident’ in its disguise — discovered as new species
When facing a threat, most animals have a choice to make: fight or flight.
It’s a decision made on instinct, millions of years of evolution deciding what path leads to the highest chance of survival.
A new species discovered in Vietnam, however, has chosen a third option.
Gelastyrella vuquangensis, or the Vu Quang planthopper, was found near the Khe Chè station of Vu Quang National Park perched on a tree in July 2023, according to a study published Oct. 24 in the peer-reviewed journal ZooKeys.
The insects blend in with the moss and lichen-covered wood, researchers said, and their coloration is “very cryptic,” making it “difficult to spot” the planthoppers in their natural habitat.
As researchers approach, the “insects seem very confident in their protection strategy, as they often will not move until touched,” according to the study.
The Vu Quang planthopper has a brown and wide head, with a “yellowish to greenish” body and similarly colored legs, according to the study.
The eyes take up a significant portion of the head, and wings are tucked along their hard bodies, researchers said.
From the outside, the species looks a lot like another known planthopper, G. litaoensis, but measurements show the new species is shorter on average and generally more pale, according to the study.
The Vu Quang planthopper is only known from the national park, according to current records.
As part of the same research, scientists not only identified one new species, but two.
Pseudochoutagus nuichuanus is another new species of planthopper, but rather than the species living in central Vietnam, it hails from southern Vietnam, according to the study.
The planthopper has a “strongly elongated” head that tapers after the eyes, researchers said.
The species is “yellow-brown” with dark brown markings on the body, according to the study.
“One specimen was found sitting on a tree trunk in a rather dry area, and the others were swept from dense bushes in subtropical evergreen forest,” researchers said. “When disturbed, they tend to run to escape, to the other side of the trunk they sit on, rather than to jump away.”
The species was named after the Nui Chua National Park it calls home.
Vu Quang National Park is in central Vietnam, just east of the border with Laos. Nui Chua National Park is in southern Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea, a disputed body of water.
The research team includes Jérôme Constant, Thai-Hong Pham and Hoai Thu Thi Nguyen.
This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 2:39 PM with the headline "‘Cryptic’ creature — ‘confident’ in its disguise — discovered as new species."
