Red and Teal
Hi,
I’ve seen this red and blue colored moth-like insect onmy morning glory leaves in summer. It’s head seems to be underneath the tribal mask looking wings. I live in Massachusetts. I’ve attached a picture of this interesting specimine. I would just like to know what it is. It took me 21 years of living in the same place to come upon it.
Thank you
Tom
Hi Tom,
What a beautiful image of Scarlet and Green Leafhoppers, Graphocephala coccinea, mating. They feed on the juices of weeds and cultivated plants. When they feed, they inject saliva into the plant which inhibits the sap from running, eventually resulting in wilting and leaf drop.
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Posted 20 December 2005
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Tagged: bug love
hey bugman!
…found this on my desk today after bringing some potted plants indoors. He was making a really loud, fussing clatter with his tiny wings (as you can see my fingernail dwarfes him) and but surprisingly he didn’t care so much when i scooped him up with a business card. any idea? i’ve never seen anything like it.
pete
los angeles
Hi Pete,
This is one of the Keelbacked Treehoppers. They often infest our tomato plants.
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Posted 19 December 2005
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Couldn’t find this one on your site
Very awesome site! I was able to identify several bugs I had no idea about. Thanks. Can you ID this one for me? Found in the back yard in southern California (Camarillo).
Adriano
Hi Adriano,
This is a new species for us, though once we saw one at our Mt. Washington offices but didn’t have a camera. This is identified by Hogue as a Smoke Tree Leafhopper, Homalodisca lacerta. Yours is a female identified by the white globule spot on the wings.
Thanks and update Thank you for your identification of Smoke Tree Leafhopper, Homalodisca lacerta. I found a website today that indicates it may be a Homalodisca coagulata or Glassy-winged Sharpshooter instead. Link: Apparently, this critter is a Pierce’s disease vector and a serious new threat to California vineyards. The summary on the above linked site is quite informative. Thanks again for having such a wonderful site!
Adriano
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Posted 08 November 2005
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Leafhopper?
Hi Bugman,
I’ve looked through the sections on your site, and the closest things I found were the Buffalo Tree Hopper and perhaps the shape of the Red Banded Leaf Hopper. I have quite a few of them (10-20) on my Cycad and once in a while I see them on my lime tree. The like the shade and the underside the best. They can fly but rarely do. I haven’t been able to tell if the shells on the underside are from what they are eating or from nymphs that are hatching. They are pale green in colour with the biggest being about a centimetre long. They have been on the plant for at least a few months. I seem to remember a least a couple being there for almost a year now. I live in Sydney, Australia and the pictures were taken today (it is currently spring time). Thanks for the help!
Dave
Hi Dave,
This is one of the Flatid Planthoppers in the Family Flatidae. We have a similar looking species in the states known as the Chloris, Anormenis chloris.
leaf hopper
Hello Folks! I have spent the summer photographing the different insects at my local conservation area and quickly the hobby became a passion. Your site has helped immensely in identifying them and also fueling my interest! One of the challenges has been to get a clear photograph of the smallest of all the insects I see – the scarlet and blue leafhopper.
Take Care,
Janet from Dundas, Ontario
Hi Janet,
So nice to see your diligence has paid off with a wonderful photograph and we get to reap the benefits of your labors. The Scarlet and Green Leafhopper, Graphocephala coccinea, is found in the eastern areas of the U.S. and adjacent areas of Canada. It has sucking mouthparts and injects saliva into plants which blocks tubes for the transportation of sap, often causing plants to wither and drop leaves.
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Posted 06 October 2005
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study in green
Hi, Daniel,
This beautiful little guy is about the size of, and just "feels" to me like, a leafhopper of some sort, despite the unusual shape. I don’t see him on your site anywhere, but could have missed it. Any idea what I’ve got here? BTW, this is the third picture I’ve sent you, and I’ve wondered since the first what image size you would prefer to receive that would minimize the work on your end. I know there’s a lot of work involved in being as responsive as you are, and we should lighten your load as much as we can. Do you want high resolution for detail in your archives, or small size for ease and speed?
Many thanks, David in Kentucky
Hi David,
You couldn’t locate your Buffalo Treehopper, Ceresa species, on our site because we haven’t had one until yours. There are many species and they are very difficult to distinguish from one another. Regarding image size, we used to prefer smaller images because our mailbox easily overloaded. Now we have a 100 megabyte box, and don’t have many problems. Because we have designs on both a calendar and a book, we like our best and most interesting images to be of the highest quality. Also, just upgrading to DSL helps with download time. We always need to reformat, crop and color correct anyways. Thanks for asking.
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Posted 23 July 2005
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What kind of bug is this and do we need to get rid of it? If so, how do we?
Jeffrey
Hi Jeffrey,
You have a species of Spittle Bug which we identified on Bug Guide as Prosapia bicincta. The nymphs are often found sucking the juices from plants while under the protection of a mass of frothy bubbles exuded from the anus. Another common name is Frog Hopper. They are injurious.
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Posted 01 July 2005
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tentacled moth?
I know a bit about bugs, certainly enough, to know this bug certainly defies classification in any normal group. Sadly it was already dead when I found it, and I actually caught it thinking it was simply a plant wisp caught in the breeze. Upon further inspection I found a very little insect body attatched to all the wispys. I’m of the mind that it is some kind of moth with incredibly strange wings (which are quite sticky, its a very hard bug to put down). Please let me know if you have any idea what this creature is, I haven’t had any luck. The pictures aren’t the best, but on the close up you can see it has legs and a head. I figure with the strange wing wisps it shouldn’t be hard to either identify or recognize as a new critter.
Thanks, Duncan
West Chester, PA
Hi Duncan,
Eric Eaton helped us to correct this one. He writes: This is a “woolly aphid of some kind. There aren’t that many species, but you have to link them to the host tree to conclude what they are.”
Update:
(01/11/2007) bug images on WTB
Dear Bugman,
I enjoyed visiting your site. It really doesn’t compete with BugGuide.net, since you have posted lots of foreign insects that they bar from that site. For example, you have some really nice photos of the primitive treehopper Aetalion (which is tropical). I thought you might like to know about the following:
(4) The “woolly aphid” is actually an insect infested by a fungus, that has sent out long fungal filaments.
Thanks for helping to spread an interest in Homoptera. We need to encourage the amateur.
Andy Hamilton
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Posted 29 June 2005
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Identify this bug please and thankyou.
Hello:
I have come across several of these bugs in my backyard today, that I have not seen before and I am curious to what they are. They are very beautiful and only about 3/8" to 1/2" long. They fly. They have yellowundersides, legs and head with 2 pink spots on top of their head. The wings are a deep pink with lighter bluish pink stripes. They have a black stripe going from one side of the head all the way around to the other side of the head, thinning out around the mouth area. Sorry, that I couldn’t get better photos, only have a video camera and it cannot take closer shots. Looking forward to hearing back from you soon.
I got a much closer look at these bugs and they are a deep fushia pink with lighter blue stripes on the wings. Sorry about that. I had to use the zoom on my camera and the defination is not very fine. On the back view of the bug the lighter pink stripes are actually blue. Thank you very much.
Darlene Johnson in Mt. Elgin, Ontario, Canada
Hi Darlene,
This is one of the Leafhoppers in the Family Cicadellidae. It looks to be the Red Banded Leafhopper, Graphocephala coccinea. Though beautiful, they can be destructive if numerous since they are sucking insects that feed on the sap of plants. They can also spread viruses from plant to plant.
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Posted 28 June 2005
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2 pictures for you
Neat website! I take macro photos (mostly of spiders and insects) here in Denver, Colorado and have a little bug that is ubiquitous in our yard. Every step I take in the lawn, generates hundreds of these little jumping bugs. The blue background on the first photo is a standard pair of blue jeans, so the weave should give a sense of scale. I tried to find out what it was, but came up short. Do you know what it is?
Thanks,
Rachel Drummond
Hi Rachel,
This is some species of immature Leafhopper in the Family Cicadellidae. They suck the juices from plants.
Update: (01/11/2007) bug images on WTB
Dear Bugman,
I enjoyed visiting your site. It really doesn’t compete with BugGuide.net, since you have posted lots of foreign insects that they bar from that site. For example, you have some really nice photos of the primitive treehopper Aetalion (which is tropical). I thought you might like to know about the following:
(5) The “leafhopper nymph” is actually a short-winged (brachypterous) leafhopper, Doratura stylata that is common on lawns. It has been introduced to North America from Europe.
Thanks for helping to spread an interest in Homoptera. We need to encourage the amateur.
Andy Hamilton
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Posted 22 June 2005
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Bug on my night blooming jasmin
Hi there,
I came across your site, and being a novice gardener, thought I would inquire as to whether or not you could identify this bug. They are propagating on my night blooming jasmine. I live in Southern California. Thanks!
Michele
Hi Michele,
You have nymphs from some species of Treehopper. They are destructive.
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Posted 21 June 2005
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Whats this bug?
Bugman,
The leaves of my Norway Maple are filled with these. A friend tells me they are Mealy Bugs but they are unlike any Mealy Bug I have ever seen or have been able to Identify. The white mass is approx. 1/4 – 3/8 inches long and has what appears to b a brown scale like "cap" at one end. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Alan
Hi Alan,
You have a type of Cottony Scale insect from the genus Pulvinaria whose members are characterized by a naked adult female (the scale) who excretes a large cottony egg-sac beneath or behind her body. The Maple-Leaf Pulvinaria, Pulvinaria acericola is found on maple leaves which your photo beautifully illustrates. You might want to try to control the outbreak by checking with a local nursery.
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Posted 09 June 2005
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