The giant stick insect, usually known as the walking stick eats the leaves of oaks and other hardwoods. It escapes predators by looking exactly like the twigs that it hides in. When it remains still, it is almost impossible to see. Adults are about 62 to 76 millimetres long, and their body colour varies from brown to green to mixtures of grey, green, and red.

Some stick insects, rather than imitating twigs and sticks, have developed to look like the leaves in which they hide. The body and legs of this leaf insect look very realistic. The edges of its body even have little 'nibbles' taken out, to look as though an animal has chewed them.

The orchid mantid has one of the most fantastic disguises of all the mantids. Its body is elaborately folded with extra flaps and their swollen and strongly coloured limbs make them look exactly like the exotic orchids that cover their local vegetation.