Discover Top Posts Tagged with #fulgoroidea

Fossil Planthopper (Fulgoroidea) In Baltic Amber

#fulgoroidea #eocene #planthopper #bug #fossil insect #insect #amber fossil #Amber #Baltic Amber #bug fossil #png #transparent #paleontology #fossil #fossils

I’ve been seeing these fluffy wax-tailed cixiid planthoppers all through spring, always in close association with Aphaenogaster ants. however, these ants are Lasius, and I think they may have adopted this flock of cixiids after the Aphaenogaster left the area.

presumably, both ant species drink the honeydew produced by the planthoppers, and in return they get a safe place to live and easy access to the tree roots from which they themselves drink. cixiids’ waxy plumes detach at the slightest contact to gum up a predator’s jaws, yet I’ve never seen any ants with wax stuck to them.

this mutualistic relationship comes to an end when the planthoppers mature, leaving the ants to go drink sap from aboveground plants. they also leave behind their wax tail and develop big eyes and glassy wings.

this is a Melanoliarus seen nearby. I’m not sure if it has any relationship to the juvenile cixiids pictured, but if not they’ll probably become something that looks very similar.

#bugs #hemiptera #hymenoptera #ant #planthopper #fulgoroidea #myrmecophily

Apache degeeri

#flickr #epic!#leafhopper #Derbidae #Otiocerinae #Fulgoromorpha #fulgoroidea

Another insect that is not part of the zoo, but just happens to be here.

Geisha distinctissima

28/05/22

17, 37? for bug ask game!

17. what's a bug you have a tattoo of or would get a tattoo of? (bonus points for pictures)

I currently have four bug tattoos, but I'm definitely planning on getting more! From left to right, top to bottom: Hyles lineata (white-lined sphinx moth), Bombus pensylvanicus (American Bumblebee), Dynastes hercules (Hercules beetle), and Cotinis mutabilis (Fig-eater beetle). I love all of them so much!