An Australian Cicada?
February 3, 2010
Hello Bugman,
I’ve just published a blog post on a cicada (?) I found in our garden. I don’t seem to be able to identify it, so I’m in need of help, please.
The post is at theridoureport.blogspot.com
There’re quite a few posts on bugs and critters I’ve found in our garden and inside – you can find all of them, if you click on the label ‘bugs’. Thanks in advance.
Ridou Ridou
Sydney, Australia
Palm Planthopper
Dear Ridou Ridou,
This appears to be a Palm Planthopper, Magia subocellata, one of the Lophopid Planthoppers in the family Lophopidae. The Planthoppers are related to the Cicadas, hence your confusion. We identified your Palm Planthopper on the Brisbane Insect Page. Flickr has a nice image that shows the colors well, but the dead mounted specimens on the New South Wales Government website have lost their lovely blue and green coloration.
Palm Planthopper
Well done, I’m impressed! Ridou Ridou
P.S. We would love some of those lovely profile shots from your blog to post on our site.
Palm Planthopper
Hi Daniel, here are the photos… Ridou Ridou
Palm Planthopper
PS. I contacted Dr Fletcher from Orange Agricultural Institute about the Planthopper, and as a consequence he added my photo of it to their website:
“Lovely pictures of Magia subocellata (Family Lophopidae). This species (and one other species of Magia) is native to North Queensland. It was found a couple of years ago in the tropical palm collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney and may well have spread to your area from there.”
http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/fulgor/species/magiasub.html
Ridou Ridou
Sydney, Australia
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Posted 03 February 2010
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Don’t have a clue where to start with this one
January 31, 2010
Hi,
I haven’t got a clue what this is. I took the shot in Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica.
Thanks
Miles
Costa Rica, Caribeean coast
Planthopper
Hi again Miles,
This is a Freeliving Hemipteran in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, and probably in the superfamily Fulgoroidea. It may be one of the Issid Planthoppers in the family Issidae or perhaps a Cixiid Planthopper in the family Cixiidae. Though they are not your of species, we have linked to some photos on BugGuide that look similar enough to have made the general identification we provided. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to provide a species identification.
Karl finds some information
Hi Daniel and Miles:
This looks like a Net-winged Hopper in the family Nogodinidae, a relatively small group of planthoppers that are quite similar to the Issidae, of which they are sometimes considered to be a subfamily. It is difficult to find much information about the group, but there are several photos identified as Biolleyana costalis and Biolleyana sp. posted on Flickr that look more or less identical. The Electronic Biologia Centrali-Americana provides very similar illustrations under the older synonym, Sassula costalis. Regards.
Karl
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Posted 31 January 2010
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Belizian Bug
January 25, 2010
I found this bug January 10th 2009, on edge of clearing in the Chiqual Rainforest. There where several ranging in length from 1 to 2cm in length.
Also I am sorry If i already sent you this before but I am not sure if my last message got sent.
Becky
Belize
Immature Treehopper
Hi Becky,
This is an immature Free Living Hemipteran, probably a Treehopper in the family Membracidae. We will try to find a species match for you. Here is a link to a photo of a North American species posted to BugGuide.
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Posted 25 January 2010
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Costa Rican Hopper? Crazy looking ‘nose.’
January 22, 2010
Walking through the primary forest in NE Costa Rica near Rio La Suerte, I stumbled across this beauty on on the bole of a tree. Being in the tropics I unfortunately couldn’t identify the tree, but it had a very smooth bole and according to a local these bugs frequent this particular tree. I’m guessing it’s some sort of hopper/spittlebug or something of the sort, the nose is so unusual, I’ve never seen anything like it.
Mike Cleveland
North Eastern Costa Rica
Fulgorid Planthopper
Hi Mike,
This is a Fulgorid Planthopper in the family Fulgoridae. In attempting to locate information on Costa Rican species, we stumbled upon a technical paper coauthored by Piotr Naskrecki who often assists us in the identification of Katydids. We will contact him to see if he recognizes your species.
Instant Gratification thanks to Piotr Naskrecki
Hi Daniel,
I know this species very well. It is Phrictus quinquepartitus, a beautiful
species found in the lowland forests of Central America, often on Peruvian
almond (Terminalia oblonga).
Cheers,
Piotr
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Posted 22 January 2010
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Please identify this bug
January 17, 2010
I could not find out what kind of bug is this, I have been looking on the internet with no result.
THank you
No thanks
West Java, Indonesia
Unknown Hopper
This is some species of Free Living Hemipteran, probably a Fulgorid Planthopper, or possibly a Lanternfly in the superfamily Fulgoroidea. Hopefully, one of our readers will be able to provide a more specific identification. Often immature specimens can be difficult to identify.
Found this bug in my florida house
January 9, 2010
Found this is the house. What bug is this? Black with Red/organge striped wings.
thanks for help
New port richey fl
Two Lined Spittlebug
This is a Two Lined Spittlebug, Prosapia bicincta, a common garden insect that feeds on grasses and holly. It will not damage your home and is not dangerous to humans or pets. It probably accidentally came indoors from the yard.
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Posted 10 January 2010
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6-legged “spider”
January 8, 2010
Dear Bugman,
We noticed several of these spider-like bugs crawling around inside our house this December. They seemed to coincide with the set-up of our freshly cut Christmas tree. Once the tree was removed in January we did not notice them anymore. This just may be a coincidence, but we don’t know for sure. We thought they were spiders, but noticed they have only 6 legs. Thanks in advance for your time and we look forward to your response, whether or not you can identify them.
Ed V.
Long Island, NY
Giant Conifer Aphid
Hi Ed,
We did a web search of “Aphid and Pine” and found a North Carolina State University page on Cinara Aphids on Christmas Trees with text, but no images. The site states: “Cinara Aphid Appearance. Cinara aphids are some of the largest aphids found in the world, Cinara aphids are usually dark in color appearing brown to black. The young are smaller versions of the adult. Cinarastrobi, the Cinara aphid found on eastern white pine, has white spots on the rear of the abdomen. Cinara aphids eggs are black and oblong and are found singly on the base of the needles.“ We then verified the appearance on BugGuide, and we are satisfied with the identification that you had Giant Conifer Aphids in the genus Cinara. We often get reports of unusual insects crawling off of Christmas trees.
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for your quick reply and apparently accurate identification. The photos on BugGuide look very similar to the actual bugs and to my photo, and after reading the NCSU page I’m convinced that’s what they were. I had checked BugGuide but would have never guessed they are aphids, so skipped that section.
Thanks again,
Ed
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Posted 08 January 2010
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Strange sideways/backwards-walking, jumping bug
January 4, 2010
Hi,
We say this strange bug in Coffs Harbour in New South Wales, Australia on Christmas Day. The weather was dry and it was warm. We were out of direct sunlight although the bug did sit on some of the wood around us in the sunlight looking for heat perhaps.
Assuming we’ve identified teh head correctly it has reddish eyes a white and orange coloured two-piece “back” and a segmented tail end with black and white stripes running across the segments.
The strangest feature were the two long antennae-type bits at the tail end (we thought this was the head first) which where dark with white strips and sort of feathery white ends.
It seemed to walk in any direction without turning round and jumped up to a metre very quicky.
I live in Scotland and have never seen anything like this so don’t even know where to start. It looks like a beetle of some sort!
Any ideas?!
alan
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia
Immature Palm Planthopper
Dear Alan,
This was a challenge since it is an immature insect and they can be difficult to identify. We have received similar images in the past that we identified on the Brisbane Insect website as Wattle Hoppers in the family Eurybrachyidae, but this specimen looked different. We clicked around on the Brisbane Insect website a bit longer and stumbled upon the Palm Planthopper, Magia subocellata in the family Lophopidae, and it looks quite close.
Immature Palm Planthopper
We then found an image of an immature Palm Planthopper, Magia subocellata, on the LifeUnseen website that corroborates our identification as does a Flickr posting.
Immature Palm Planthopper
Hi Daniel,
Many thanks for this! I’d done some insect ID many years ago but don’t have any of the resources. Funnily enough I think I saw something resembling the adult Planthopper closeby while we were entertained by the wee fellow.
Great work, hopw you have a great 2010. J
Cheers,
alan
Possible scale on Euphorbia
January 2, 2010
Good afternoon,
I was doing some pruning and came across these crazy scales (?) on one of my evergreen Euphorbias. There were eggs and then the next stage appeared to be a reddish brown insect that looked similar to a roly poly but flatter. Then it develops into a scale looking insect with crazy toothpaste white stuff underneath it. It appears to leave behind a tube of scalloped toothpaste stuff. What the…?
T. Koenigsaecker
Northern California
Cottony Cushion Scale
Dear T.,
You have nailed the ID. This sure looks like a Cottony Cushion Scale, Icerya purchasi, to us. According to BugGuide, on this Australian native: “The white fluted part of the insect is an egg sac that can contain up to 1000 eggs. The insect is hermaphroditic, producing sperm that can fertilize its own ova, but in an alternate reproductive strategy it can also make winged males that can fertilize the female part of other individuals.“
Scales (?)
January 3, 2010
Hello,
I sent an e-mail on January 2nd regarding scales. I was able to get some better photos and thought I would forward them along. They show the several stages described in my e-mail.
T. Koenigsaecker
Northern California
Cottony Cushion Scale
What’s that jungle insect?!
December 31, 2009
I was walking through the jungles in Peru this summer when I noticed these insects on a small plant. Their long, white, fuzzy antennae-like protrusions could move independently of one another, and moved quite a bit when I moved quickly toward them or made a loud noise. There appeared to be a bead of some sort of fluid at the point where these strange “antennae” connected to the insects’ heads. Also, these white antennae-like things also seemed to be growing from the bottoms of the leaves of the plant, as if the insects were harvesting them and carrying them on their head like antennae.
I also have a short video showing the way in which they move, if that would be any help. Thanks!
The Monkey Whisperer
Manu National Reserve, Peru
Unknown Hemipteran
Dear Monkey Whisperer,
We wish your photo was more detailed, revealing the anatomy of an individual, but alas, it is not so. We are guessing that this is some species of Free Living Hemipteran, perhaps a Treehopper, Leafhopper, or Aphid, but we are uncertain as to the family, much less the genus or species. Perhaps one of our readers has more information. We believe they are immature specimens which could mean the adult looks quite different. We also believe the antennae you describe are wax filaments which are produced by many Hemipterans.
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Posted 31 December 2009
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next to Aphids
December 25, 2009
Hey, found these triangular green “leaf” bugs next to aphids. Are they good predators or bad adults? Thanks,
Kiloh
Southern California
Keeled Treehoppers
Dear Kiloh,
These are adult Keeled Treehoppers, Antianthe expansa, a common garden pest in California and Arizona. The adults and spiny nymphs, which we believe you may have mistaken for aphids, feed on tomato plants, pepper plants and other related solanaceous plants. They feed by sucking the juices from the plants. You can see some nice images on BugGuide. While looking for potential links, we stumbled upon Vanessa cardui’s wonderful blog, Am I Bugging You Yet? that features bug sightings in and around Tustin, California.
Thanks! Other than a soap wash (or removing the plant) are there any other organic approaches to treating the problem? PS you folks are great!!
Personally, we hand pick and squash them in our own garden, though they are a bit spiny. Soapy water should work fine.
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Posted 27 December 2009
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Strange, hard, fly like creature
December 22, 2009
The strangest insect ever? Hard as a rock. Didn’t sting or bite but the spike on top and two on his sides were sharp and hard like thorns.
Had wings and was on the beach but seemed unable to fly in the strong breeze. Clung to me or my pencil till I let him go in the jungle.
Thank you! Kambri Crews
Mexico
Follow up re: Strange, hard, fly like creature
on December 22, 2009
I was silly and submitted a photo and brief email without first perusing your site and getting the gist.
Please accept my apologies for the lame narrative in my prior submission!
I have also attached one additional photo of THE most interesting insect I have ever laid eyes on. Have you any idea what he could be?
Thanks again! Kambri Crews
Maroma Spa & Resort, near Playa del Carmen Mexico
Treehopper
Dear Kambri Crews,
This is a Treehopper in the family Membracidae. Many species in the family mimic thorns and they are nearly impossible to see when resting on a thorny branch. They may also mimic the lead tip on a pencil.
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