Moth, beetle, & spawn in southern Ontario
Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 4:44 PM
I have three bugs I’d like identified. All photos were taken today in my backyard (date is on the photos). I live in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada).
… 3)Spawn.jpg – This year almost all dandelion leafs and weeds in my area are covered in this foam with a small yellow slug-like bug in the center! Whenever I go to pick some greens for my Guinea Pigs my hands get covered in the stuff. This is the first year I’ve seen such a thing and they were even present at a park 50km away that I visited last week.
Help in identifying these 3 bugs would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Luke.
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Spittlebug

Hi Luke,
As we have already indicated, multiple unrelated species in the same letter is something we avoid posting, but we were really interested in sharing two of your images with our readership.  This is a nymph of an aptly named Spittlebug in the family Cercopidae a group of free living Hemipterans.   According to BugGuide:  “After the nymph molts for the final time, the resulting adult insect leaves the mass of ’spittle’ and moves about actively. The ’spittle’  is derived from a fluid voided from the anus and from a mucilaginous substance excreted by epidermal glands. Spittlebug nymphs wander away from their spittle masses, and either start new ones, or enter those of other nymphs. Aphrophora nymphs hold the record, of one spittle mass over a foot long containing about 100 individuals! (Comment by Andy Hamilton). ”

Hong Kong bug
Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 5:24 PM
Hello,
I just took this photo yesterday (April 18) on a roadside tree in Hong Kong. These bugs have been appearing for years, but only on this one specific tree. At times I have seen more than five all within plain sight.
They are about 2 inches long from nose to tail. The can fly, but not well, and they move sideways just as easily as backwards and forwards.
I don’t even know where to start looking them up – they look half moth and half beetle.
Thanks
Guy
Mid Levels, Hong Kong

Longan Chicken, a Lanternfly

Dear Guy,
This is a Lanternfly, an unusual group of insects in the family Fulgoridae.  When we posted another image of this species from Hong Kong in January 2007, we got this species identification:  “Hi Bugman,
I believe that the lanternfly that Alex found in Hong Kong is Pyrops candelaria. The two most “common” Mandarin common names of this lanternfly , if translated literaly to English, is “white wax cicarda” (because of the white, wax-like powders on its eggs), and “longan chicken” (because it feeds on saps of the longan trees (Dimocarpus longan) as well as other fruit trees such as mango, lichi and olive). Pyrops candelaria is easily seen in Hong Kong and SE Asia. Images can be found here ( http://www.pbase.com/bluetitan/pyropscandelaria ) and here ( http://aestheticarthropoda.blogspot.com/2006/12/pyrops-candelaria.html ). (Unfortunately most of the introduction to this lanternfly is in Mandarin, and the second link is the best English description I can find.) hopefully you find it helpful,  Wei-Ting “  As a side note, we use the compound word Lanternfly, while some websites prefer to split the units and call this insect a Lantern Fly.  That would imply that it is a true fly, which it is not.  We stand firm on the spelling Lanternfly being correct.

White and Red Horned bug
Sun, Apr 5, 2009 at 11:48 AM
We live in Jacksonville, Florida, there’s a tree in the back yard, small leaves, and nuts. These small bugs, maybe half an inch long at most, litter the low lying branches. These pictures are of the same group, it’s April now, and they’ve been there for no less than a month, getting bigger, horns growing all the while. They look, if the pictures don’t show it so well, like tiny Cicada, with the addition of the horn atop their heads.
Keegan R. Gilmore
Northern Florida, US (Jacksonville

Oak Treehoppers

Hi Keegan,
These are Oak Treehoppers, Platycotis vittata. The tree you describe sounds like an oak, though the fruit is generally called an acorn, not a nut. According to BugGuide there are several color variations, and they are described as: “Grayish spotted with yellow, or turquoise with red stripes and red eyes. With or without a thorn-like horn.” BugGuide also indicates: “Hatching occurs in Spring in the South, and in late Spring in the North. Larva pass through five instars, and adults and larva form aggregations along oak twigs of up to 100 individuals. Females seem to exhibit protective behavior, keeping predators away from the young” and that it “Does almost no damage to the host trees—leaves only a few twig scars from oviposition. “  Treehoppers and Cicadas belong to the same superfamily, Cicadoidea, in the insect order Hemiptera, which explains the resemblance you noticed.

Oak Treehoppers

A fly with a blue, elongated nose and green wings with yellow polka dots.
Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Found in the rainforest in Borneo.
Vin
Sandakan, Borneo

Lanternflies from Borneo

Hi Vin,
In April 2008, we posted an image of this spectacular Lanternfly in the family Fulgoridae, also from Borneo, but we were never able to identify the species. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to supply us with a species identification.

Little spiky bug… (the last martian on earth)
Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 2:32 PM
Hi Bugman!
When I was a little boy I used to play with this type of insect I called “marcianitos” (little martian in spanish). There used to be hundreds in some trees at school, but I wasn’t able to find them in any other place. I even tried to breed them at home in every plant I found but they always disappeared.
Today, 20 years later, I was at the mechanic and when I bent down to pick up something I found this one lying on the floor, It was barely alive but I managed to bring it home and take some photos.
Most of them looked like this one, but there were others with other color highlights, some brown instead of green, and others with the top spike less “pointy” but flatter, longer and a little bit bent backwards with a more aerodynamics look. It doesn’t smell bad, but when I gathered many of them together for a while they produced a bitter-leaf-smell I think but not too strong. They fly and when put lying down they do some kind of “click” to get up.
Could you help me identify this boy?
Thanks!
Edgar O.
Dominican Republic ( Caribbean)

Thorn Treehopper

Dear Edgar,
We are perfectly charmed by your letter, from the childhood memories, to the decades later encounter, to the colorful description, to the descriptive Spanish name for this unknown Tree Hopper. Tree Hoppers are in the family Membracidae. Though we cannot identify your exact species, you can view many similar relatives of your Marcianito from North America on BugGuide

Update: Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 9:02 AM
Thank you very much Daniel!
With the name you gave me I think I found more about them, their name is “Thorn Treehopper” (Thorn bug, Thornhopper)… check it out at bugguide:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/4791/ I also find something here: http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/hemip1.htm#tree
If that info is correct then we have just identified our bugdy!
Thank you again!
Edgar.

Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 7:21 AM
Comment:
This Membracid is in the genus Umbonia most likely U. crassicornis or U. spinosa. I have seen them in aggregations many times, usually the mothers gaurd the eggs which they insert into plant tissue, then they form family groups which are subsocial.
Author : Jackruby

From Puerto Rico: Hemiptera or Diptera?
Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 7:32 AM
I thought this would be a bug, but upon looking at it more closely I believe I see alteres. Perhaps a sort of fly? It would perch on leaves and stay immobile for long periods of time. Photographed during the day, Caribbean National Forest, Puerto Rico.
Alejandro Sanchez
Lowland rain forest, Luquillo Mountains, eastern Puerto Rico

Hemipteran from Puerto Rico

Hello Alejandro,
We believe this is a fly in the order Diptera, but we are uncertain beyond that. We will check with Eric Eaton to see if he is able to provide additional information. We would not entirely rule out that this is a Hemipteran, because although the image appears to indicate halteres, the knobbed, thread-like, hind wing organs of flies, our ancient volume of Comstock’s An Introduction to Entomology states on page 59: “The hind wings of the males of the family Coccidae are also threadlike.”

Hemipteran from Puerto Rico

Correction: From Eric Eaton
Monday, January 26, 2009
Ok, the “fly” is some kind of hemipteran, probably a fulgoroid hopper, but in the tropics there are entire families not seen in North America….
Eric

Update: Tuesday January 27, 2009
Hi Daniel:
The web site Fulgoromorpha Lists on The Web (FLOW) lists only seven fulgoroid species for Puerto Rico, in two families (Achilidae and Cixiidae) and five genera. I was not able to locate images of any of the listed species, but based on related species it looks like it is probably a Cixiid (Bothriocera bicornis, Cubana tortriciformis or Oliarus cingalensis). It looks quite similar to the Bothriocera images on Bugguide. Regards.
Karl
Links: http://flow.snv.jussieu.fr/cgi-bin/flowexplorer.pl?lang= en&page=country&id=40

http://bugguide.net/node/view/43853/bgimage

grasshopper???
Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 12:59 AM
hi there. I was recently on a hike in Eshowe South Africa and came across this bug. It looks like grass hopper family to me, but I cant be sure. I’d love it if you could Identify it for me!
Michelle Krystle Govender
Eshowe SA

Immature Fulgorid Planthopper

Hi Michelle,
We believe this is an immature Fulgorid Planthopper.  Other than that, we can’t give tou specifics on the species.  We have gotten numerous images from South Africa in the past week.

Unknown insects from Madagascar
Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 8:36 PM
Found incidentally during a geological prospection in arbustives impenetrable hills:)
Two groups of individuals’ about twenty each, unite in end of branch, close to the soil. Do not steal (chrysalises? In transformation?)
Aragon
North of Madagascar (Ambilobe region)

Immature Fulgorid Planthoppers

Dear Aragon,
What we are certain of is that these insects are in the order Hemiptera which includes True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies and probably in the Superfamily Fulgoroidea, the Planthoppers.  Many immature Fulgorid Planthoppers  secrete a white waxy substance that forms filaments and the wax is a protection for the soft bodied insects.  We suspect this may be one of the Fulgorid Planthoppers, but we are not certain.  There is a spectacular Central American Planthopper, Cerogenes auricoma , that also produces the waxy filaments as an adult.  We will continue to try to identify this insect more specifically, and we also welcome any input from our readership.

Immature Fulgorid Planthoppers

Unidentified Shovel Nosed Hemiptera (Aussietrev)
Sun, Dec 21, 2008 at 2:37 PM
Hi Guys,
Found this guy on a Gum Tree but cannot get an ID worked out. Possibly in the Spittle bug family but cannot find anything similar. Hoping someone can help with the ID for this weird looking guy.
Merry Xmas and thanks for all the great work you guys have put in this year, especially with the new website.
aussietrev
Queensland (Capricornia Region)

Leafhopper

Hi Daniel,
This morning I posted a weird shovel nosed critter which I have since had identified, at least to family, by Dave Britton, collections manager of Entomology at the Australian Museum.
He said that is a leafhopper (Cicadellidae) in the tribe Ledrini. This webpage covers most of what is known about them.
http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/Hort/ascu/leafhop/cica16b.htm
Looking through the closest match I found was Platyledra caldida Evans. Apparently this group is exclusive to Australia and is the largest leaf hopper in the world growing to 28mm.
The one in the picture I sent would have been very close to that.
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all at WTB,
regards,
Trevor Jinks

Hi Trevor,
Thanks for sending your Leafhopper image and also for providing a link to a great resource page.  We have been struggling to address our Christmas cards, and have been neglecting posting letters to the website in a timely manner.

Pure White insect on floor of sulawesan rainforest
Sun, Nov 30, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Viewing the variety of colors and shapes in the insect world on your site is a truly humbling experience. What I have found distinctly lacking are “bugs” that are pure white. When I have come across insects that are white, they always have some markings.
While walking the Tangkoko Rainforest in North Sulawesi a few weeks ago, I asked my guide to identify the white object on a leaf. He stated that it must be some feather of a bird. Clearly, my guide had never seen such a bug before. As Ralph Emerson said: “People see what they are prepared to see.”
This is the second pure white insect I have seen, the other in a woodpile in Rwanda which I sent to you without response.
Can you identify this one for me? I would be interested on thoughts on pure white insectss.
Thanks!
Dr. Sal Sclafani, Brooklyn, New York
Tangkoko Rainforest, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Probably Fulgorid Planthopper Nymph

Dear Dr. Sal Sclafani,
This is some species of immature Homopteran, a member of the now defunct order that includes aphids and planthoppers.  Some immature Homopterans secrete a white waxy substance that forms filaments and the wax is a protection for the soft bodied insects.  We suspect this may be one of the Fulgorid Planthoppers, but we are not certain.  There is a spectacular Central American Planthopper, Cerogenes auricoma, that also produces the waxy filaments as an adult.  In the interest of correct modern taxonomy, the Fulgorid Planthoppers are, according to BugGuide, now classified  thus:  “Order Hemiptera – True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies
Suborder Auchenorrhyncha – Free-living Hemipterans
Superfamily Fulgoroidea – Planthoppers
Family Fulgoridae – Fulgorid Planthoppers “