leaf butterfly
noun
any of various butterflies of the genus Kallima, of southern Asia, the East Indies, and Australia, having wings that resemble dead leaves.
Origin of leaf butterfly
1First recorded in 1880–85
Words Nearby leaf butterfly
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use leaf butterfly in a sentence
This is true also of the leaf butterfly and of another which exactly resembles a bird's dropping.
The Other Side of Evolution | Alexander PattersonThe withered leaf butterfly, with spots and wrinkles, is exactly like the thing it imitates.
The Other Side of Evolution | Alexander PattersonMost striking of all, however, is the large dead-leaf butterfly Kallima (fig. 163) of the East Indian region.
Elementary Zoology, Second Edition | Vernon L. KelloggIt is the dead-leaf butterfly's good to tell a foe a falsehood.
Thus Spake Zarathustra | Friedrich NietzscheFor example, many animals such as the quail, the rabbit, or the leaf-butterfly are protectively colored.
Being Well-Born | Michael F. Guyer
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