Subject: Possible Fairy or Yucca Moth
Geographic location of the bug: Nature Trail in SE New Mexico
Date: 05/22/2018
Time: 11:35 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: We found this guy last weekend while walking on a nature trail in SE New Mexico. We almost missed him. He is so tiny. We weren’t even sure it was an insect until we took a closer look. He was so small, we couldn’t get the camera to focus on it without putting a hand behind it. The next day I found two on the same bush, or at least one in the same area. They didn’t move the entire time we examined them.
We looked on line, and the closest match we could find was fairy moths or yucca moths. However, we could not see any antenna on the guys we found. The photos on the Bug Guide site all seemed to have noticeable antenna. There are yucca and ocotillo on the nature trail, but none of them are in bloom, yet.
Thanks for all you do to educate us.
How you want your letter signed: Curious
Dear Curious,
We do not believe these are moths. In our opinion, they look like Flatid Planthopper, possibly Flatormenis saucia which is pictured on BugGuide and is reported from New Mexico, or possibly a different species. Flatid Planthoppers are Free-Living Hemipterans that feed by sucking fluids from plants with their piercing mouthparts.
