If not a leaf, what is it?

Nature Talk
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I came across this photo in a recent article about butterflies. The caption says:

A fallen leaf found in the Santa Lúcia biological reserve resembles the broken wing of a butterfly

but the venation is pretty clearly not that of a leaf. To me, it looks more like the wing of a katydid or similar insect (the venation doesn’t look right for a butterfly). As it’s not my photo, I can’t post it on iNaturalist for identification. Can anyone identify it?

Screenshot 2025-10-06 at 11-21-03 Fade to grey as forests are cut down butterflies are losing their colours Butterflies The Guardian
Screenshot 2025-10-06 at 11-21-03 Fade to grey as forests are cut down butterflies are losing their colours Butterflies The Guardian1920×1280 308 KB

Photo: Roberto García-Roa (Espírito Santo, Brazil)

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https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=322951&view=species

Looks like its in the direction of Typophyllum or a related class of leaf mimicing katydids. Just from a casual look.

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Leaf mimic insect wing - so the venation is entomology not botany. Good enough to deceive predators. And the ‘leaf’ is wing-shaped to fly.

?

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They can be pretty convicing, this is one of the faves I have found. I do love finding them, but they can be pretty winning at camoflauge at times.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/255861249

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Thanks! Another iNatter suggested to me it could be Pseudotanusia sp., which looks good. Definitely seems like it must be something in the Neotropical Leaf Katydids.

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