#stirellus

[usgsbiml]

Stirellus bicolor - Bluestem sucker.  Leafhoppers can be picky.  Some suck sap from almost anything, others, like our gold and purple friend here stick with one group.  Lots of them are grass specialists, eastern grasses have loads of leafhoppers and often dominant counts of the things that hang around plants above ground (you know those things...).  Oh, and they range from pretty to beautiful, lots of designers could take a lesson.  Check the 150 some species most with pictures on the Maryland Biodiversity site.  And, MAGLEV 200 acre site.

[calosoma-amitch]

MICROSCOPE MONDAY

Leafhopper (Stirellus bicolor), Fishers Island, NY. August 2015. , 

This leafhopper is unusual in that its appearance depends on seasonality; differences in daylength and temperature define two separate forms (known as photoperiodically-induced color morphs). In the summer, individuals will appear in bright, metallic greens with black stripes. In cooler temperatures, such as in spring or fall, the leafhopper appears tan with pale or transparent wings (an image of this form is found below, photographed by Tom Murray 2006). 

The difference in appearance is so extreme that, at one point, the two forms were considered separate species. The change in color is believed to aid the leafhopper in hiding in grasslands as the seasons change. The summer morph was found in a stand of big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii). 

Multiple generations throughout the eastern US, with adults present year-round in the south.