I recently saw this weird-looking creature (see photograph) and have no idea what it is. I can鈥檛 even work out which end is its front. It is about half a centimetre long. Can anybody help?
鈥淭he protrusions are long waxy filaments only present in the nymphs and produced by glands at the end of the abdomen鈥�
鈥� This is a nymph of the homopteran bug family Eurybrachidae. It feeds on sap from plant tissue. The head is to the right and the abdomen, to the left, bears the two long waxy filaments. These filaments are not present in the adult and are produced by glands found at the end of the insect鈥檚 abdomen. The nymph looks somewhat like a small version of the adult (apart from the filaments), with the wings starting to develop in the wing buds.
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Tom Weir, Senior Curator, Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra, ACT, Australia
鈥� Insect camouflage and mimicry is my main research pursuit as an entomologist so it was a pleasure to see this query.
This odd-looking insect is a nymph of a species in the tree-hopper family Eurybrachidae. These are sap-sucking bugs that are related to plant hoppers and cicadas, and they live on tree bark where the general camouflage from branches and leaves protects them well.
The two long 鈥渁ntennae鈥� are, in fact, waxy secretions protruding from the back end of the bug. The bug holds these upright to imitate antennae and thus fool predators into striking at the wrong end of its body, away from its more vulnerable head.
鈥淭he bug holds these protrusions upright to imitate antennae and to fool predators into striking at the wrong end of its body鈥�
This mimicry is further enhanced by the bug鈥檚 habit of moving either sideways like a crab, or backwards to complete the deception. As well as all this protection, when all else has failed, it is capable of very fast, long jumps that leave the predator bemused. The adults are winged, flattened insects without the waxy protrusions of the nymph.
Paul Zborowski, Close-up Photo Library, Kuranda, Queensland, Australia
