Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. In the pitch black hours nearing midnight last March on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, a team of scientists came across a startling discovery: a hot pink leaf-masquerading katydid (Arota festae), striking a pose in the glow of a research station light.  Leaf-masquerading katydids are camouflage insects that usually resemble green leaves to ward off predators. Pink ones are a rarity among the rainforest-dwelling species, so the researchers kept the adult female bug under observation. Eleven days later, she was green.  Leaf-masquerading katydids in Panama’s tropical forests typically mimic green leaves. Image: University of St Andrews, University of Reading, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and University of Amsterdam. Researchers say it’s the first time a katydid has been observed completing a full color shift within a single adult life stage. Previously, scientists considered pink katydids to be rare, disadvantageous mutants.   The team that found this color-changing insect believes that its hot pink-to-green transformation could have evolved to mimic …