I find treehoppers to be adorable and desperately want to find one of the ones that looks like a helicopter, or an alien, or…unfortunately, this is the closest I’ve got so far, a charming mottled gray and white fellow with clear wings and a pronotum for days, giving it the appearance of a very, very,…
Category: Insects
Smilia fasciata
This handsome little brown treehopper with a brilliant green stripe on its extended pronotum (a feature unique to the Membracidae — er, the extended pronotum, that is, not the green stripe) enjoys hopping around on (and eating the sap of) oak trees, and ranges all over the east coast of the United States. This poor…
Ophiderma definita
This dainty and well-camouflaged treehopper is Ophiderma definita, about 5mm long and suffering, alas, from Wikipedia Stub Syndrome. They “can be found between March and June in the Central and Eastern regions of the United States and Canada”, and…well, now you know exactly as much as I do about them. In general they seem to…
Pelitropis rotulata
This mottled green planthopper, with its distinctive flattened head and oval crossvein pattern on the wing tips, is Pelitropis rotulata, no common name. It is native to the southeastern US (eastern Texas through Florida through Virginia) and Cuba. Nymphs have diagnostic red “tail lights”. It’s a member of the family Tropiduchidae, and…otherwise suffers from Wikipedia…
Two-Lined Spittlebug
This tiny bug resembles a leafhopper but is in fact a closely related species called a froghopper, a kind of spittlebug (named for the foam the juveniles conceal themselves in for defense). Adults are black, usually (but not always) with two red/orange lines crossing their wings, and bright red legs with black feet. They are…
Spiny Oak Slug Moth
This spectacular green spiky caterpillar is the larval form of the spiny oak slug moth. It’s probably Euclea delpihinii, based on comparison to photos on bugguide.net, but there are two virtually identical species of Euclea in my area and this may well be Euclea nanina. I am not yet able to afford the $30,000 reference…
African Fig Fly
This handsome orange fruit fly (or vinegar fly) with its distinctive white “racing stripes” is the African fig fly, Zaprionus indianus. This invasive and destructive species has made its way from its native west Africa through much of India, Europe, and South America, arriving in Florida in 2005. The females lay eggs in overripe fruit,…
Homaemus proteus
Meet one of five species of shield-backed bugs in the genus Homaemus: this is Homaemus proteus, notable for those two lovely spots on its scutellum (although not all individuals have the spots, and some have much bigger spots — I wonder if this might be a nymph rather than a color morph, but this is…
Mexican Paper Wasp
Meet Mischocyttarus mexicanus, the Mexican paper wasp. This eusocial species has actually been extensively studied, because individual wasps employ different reproductive strategies over their lifetime, including nesting individually and as a colony, brood parasitism (with unrelated conspecifics) and usurpation. This “reproductive generalization” is unusual behavior. M. mexicanus can be found all over the southern United…
Acutalis tartarea (Treehopper)
This strange little beastie does not have a common name, alas, although I’ve seen it on Project Noah as “Black-veined treehopper”, which works. It is notable for its bright green abdomen, black “painted” lines along the wing veins, partially clear wings, and a wide, dark brown “stripe” on the pronotum. The pattern of coloration varies…
Pennsylvania Flea Beetle
Flea beetles (as you may guess after seeing those big, folded, hoppy hind legs) are known for their prodigious jump. In general, they aggravate gardeners by making holes in leaves. This particular species, the Pennsylvania flea beetle (Disonycha pensylvanica) however, prefers wetland areas and not eating human crops. This ~5mm beetle has a black head,…
Dot-lined White Moth
I regret that I do not (yet) have any photos of the adult moth (Artace cribrarius), mostly because it strongly resembles a stuffed animal, but please enjoy these fascinating pictures of the A. cribrarius caterpillar, a very well-camouflaged caterpillar which appears to resemble the bark of a birch tree, complete with nifty “fringe of sublateral…
Clastoptera querci
Spittlebugs are related to leafhoppers and other tiny, hopping insects which suck juices out of plants. Spittlebugs are unique in that they hide in little white frothy clouds of “spit” (hence the name) as nymphs. (It’s not actually spit. It’s actually secreted from the, um, other end of the insect.) Adult spittlebugs do not hide…
Melanoliarus sp. Planthopper
It’s hard to tell scale in macro photography, but this planthopper was relatively huge — almost 1 cm — and was very patient while I got some gorgeous photos. Melanoliarus has about 48 species in North America, and they can only be firmly identified by looking at the genitals of the males, so Melanoliarus sp….
Flat-Faced Longhorn Beetle (Ecyrus dasycerus)
I’ve found a few of these strange little gray beetles in this odd position — with their antennae folded back, their front half braced on the top of the boardwalk railing and their back half dangling off the side — and I wonder if they aren’t just doing their best to pretend to be part…
Brazilian leafhopper
This glorious little yellow leafhopper, with its brown and white spots, was all of 4mm long, and sitting on the leaf of a sunflower (you can just see the little hairs on the leaf’s surface in the photo), waving gently back and forth in the wind. This did not make it easy to get a…