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Description
Has anyone seen my Middle Jurassic hangingfly? I think I last had it on a forest floor in Inner Mongolia...

  This unusual insect is Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia, an extinct genus of hangingfly from the upper Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of what is now Inner Mongolia. Published in 2012, what makes this invertebrate so intriguing is the striking resemblance it shares with the contemporaneous ginkgoale Yimaia capituliformis. Juracimbrophlebia's wings and abdomen conform so closely with the many-lobed leaves of Yimaia that it is theorized they are a prehistoric example of mimicry.
  Unlike the other life reconstructions of Juracimbrophlebia, I chose a different perspective. While I find it incredibly likely that Juracimbrophlebia spent most of its time hanging from tree branches in the way that gives hangingflies their name, I felt this was another plausible scenario that would help illustrate how effective its camouflage may have been.
  This was an artistic challenge for me as I have never attempted to depict convincing camouflage in situ. Basically everything I've learned about composition involves making the focal point "pop" through contrast, color or value change, etc. To show an animal hidden amongst its surroundings means in some ways throwing these methods out the window.
  Lastly, I would just like to say I wouldn't have even known about the remarkable connection between Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia and Yimaia capituliformis without the excellent, deftly-illustrated and deeply informative paleobotany blog Palaeoflora by Julian Kiely. I highly recommend you read it!!!

Sources:
palaeoflora.blogspot.com/2019/…
www.pnas.org/content/109/50/20…

Description
Has anyone seen my Middle Jurassic hangingfly? I think I last had it on a forest floor in Inner Mongolia...

  This unusual insect is Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia, an extinct genus of hangingfly from the upper Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of what is now Inner Mongolia. Published in 2012, what makes this invertebrate so intriguing is the striking resemblance it shares with the contemporaneous ginkgoale Yimaia capituliformis. Juracimbrophlebia's wings and abdomen conform so closely with the many-lobed leaves of Yimaia that it is theorized they are a prehistoric example of mimicry.
  Unlike the other life reconstructions of Juracimbrophlebia, I chose a different perspective. While I find it incredibly likely that Juracimbrophlebia spent most of its time hanging from tree branches in the way that gives hangingflies their name, I felt this was another plausible scenario that would help illustrate how effective its camouflage may have been.
  This was an artistic challenge for me as I have never attempted to depict convincing camouflage in situ. Basically everything I've learned about composition involves making the focal point "pop" through contrast, color or value change, etc. To show an animal hidden amongst its surroundings means in some ways throwing these methods out the window.
  Lastly, I would just like to say I wouldn't have even known about the remarkable connection between Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia and Yimaia capituliformis without the excellent, deftly-illustrated and deeply informative paleobotany blog Palaeoflora by Julian Kiely. I highly recommend you read it!!!

Sources:
palaeoflora.blogspot.com/2019/…
www.pnas.org/content/109/50/20…