#treehoppers

[carrionhearted]

IM HAVING A MOMENT OVER TREEHOPPERS LOOK AT THESE CCCCREATURES… props to the universe’s character design department for these guys.

[apsciencebylyn]

*hands you one* 💚

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

If you want to find alien life, look no further than the Brazilian treehopper! These insects are known for the unique appendage, known as a pronotum that grows from the back of their thorax. The structure is almost tree-like, with a thick stem branching off into four hairy spheres and a long, thin tail. As both males and females have developed this strange growth, scientists believe it may serve as a mimic of a fungal infection, leading potential predators to steer well away.

(Images: A brazilian treehopper (Bocydium globulare) by Patrick Landmann and Pasha Kirillov

Want to request some art or uncharismatic facts? Just send me proof of donation to any of the fundraisers on this list, or a Palestinian organization of your choice! Proof does not have to include any personal info– only the date, the amount, and the recipient.

[solarflare-s]

saw the cutest little guy today (oak treehopper -Platycotis vittata)

[celestialmacros]

Telamona maculata, a member of the typical treehoppers

June 2, 2024

Southeastern Pennsylvania

[antiqueanimals]

Nature's Marvels. Text by Lucy Berman. Illustrations by Roy Coombs. 1971.

Internet Archive

[ljsbugblog]

Unknown Treehopper (genus Acanthuchus, possibly A. trispinifer?).

[the-bug-bl0g]

guys there’s treehoppers (Micrutalis I think. Feel free to correct me) in my yard i am so excited about this development

Treehoppers are in the order Hemiptera (true bugs), and are related to cicadas and boxelder bugs.

Often, these guys also come with funky hats. Usually these hats are useful for camoflage, and can make them look like a thorn, but sometimes they’re kinda wild and we don’t know why they exist. Take Lycoderes nathanieli for example (look up pictures). That’s not camoflage, certainly. That’s a basketball hoop, or maybe a spoon. But no one knows why it looks like that. Pretty cool stuff!

Also they are mutualistic with quite a few animals! Ants collect honeydew from treehoppers, but protect them from predators. The same happens with some species of Parachartergus wasps. Some treehopper species have even managed to form a mutualistic relationship with geckos, which are also allowed to harvest their honeydew.

[jupiterswasphouse]

[VIDEO AND PHOTOS TAKEN: MAY 4TH, 2024 | Video and Image IDs: A video and two photos of a brown Entylia treehopper, on a light skinned human hand. In the video, it quickly shakes its wings before jumping off, disappearing within just a few frames /End IDs.]

[jensownzoo]

It's been raining lightly here all day with only maybe a 15 minute break once or twice. Luckily one of those breaks coincided with when I needed to scootch out to give the chickens their dinner and cover up the plants for the evening so I also did my garden check at the same time.

Flowering fava beans are just so pretty. Wait. Uh-oh.

Grrrr! One of the fava bean plants has developed a black aphid infestation complete with farming ants. Hit it with a neem oil spray because not having that. Will likely have to repeat it daily until the rain stops washing it off.

This was a new one on me since I haven't successfully grown sunflowers in many many years. Looks like they're treehoppers. In these numbers the internet says they shouldn't be an issue that needs addressing, but I'll be keeping a close eye. The plant that these are on is only knee-high right now and has a lot of growing to do.

In good news, the kale that I had accidentally chlorosed (word? it is now) with row cover is recovering and greening up.

The bad news is while the bok choy is also greening up, it is also immediately bolting. So the executive decision is to let it and use these for seed production instead of eating. I have more bok choy in a different earthbox that's ready to start harvesting for that.

Which will go nicely with these first snow peas of the season in a few days.

I really wish I liked radishes because this is the second "thinning" of that row and they look so good. I did try a bite from the last batch just in case my tastebuds had changed and while I could tell that it was an exceptionally good radish (100x better than supermarket), it was still a radish. That's okay, the chickens love them.

This is why I planted a mixed row of radish, cilantro, and dill--the flowers for the beneficials! The radish flowers are varying between white and the pink you see here and are quite pretty. The reason why I'm thinning the radishes is because they're shading out the tomato seedlings planted behind them. Once the tomatoes get tall enough then I'll let the rest be.

Speaking of thinning plant, I have got to harvest some of this dill this week to dry for my spice cabinet. I use a large amount of dillweed in cooking (scrambled eggs, pasta/grain salads, dressings, popcorn seasoning, etc.) and given the contamination/adulteration issues that plagues the spice trade...well you generally know what's going on with what you can make yourself in that regard. Assuming you know what's happening with your soil, that is. I planted peppermint in my alley where a dumpster once stood and it is absolutely not for eating. Just a good smelling plant that tolerates shade reasonably well.

So excited. I did the thing where you don't thin your beet seedlings when they're small. Instead you harvest them as baby beets and the ones left will continue to grow to fill the space. It looks like I'll be having beets with dinner this week! I love beets, they're one of my favorites.

Going to have to continue this in a reblog as I've used up my picture allotment.

[g0reoz]

🤍🤍🤍

[clannfearrunt]

Found a little treehopper while I was trimming up the silverleafs from yesterday! Tortistilus inermis probably. After about 5 minutes of tolerating my bullshit it fucking Teleported away. Goodbye littleguy

[apsciencebylyn]

The oak treehopper parenting posts will continue until morale has improved

I came across this mum watching over her clutch of eggs, as they were beginning to hatch! 🥹💚

[artapir]

Panspermic bugatopsian nymphs. These guys are, incidentally, the smallest known panspermids to feature an admixture of ceratopsian genes. Midjourney 5.2

[mrtnvch]

back to regularly scheduled critters

[antiqueanimals]

Nature's Marvels. Text by Lucy Berman. Illustrations by Roy Coombs. 1971.

Internet Archive