So, THIS was on my sunflower plant.
!!!
What is it?!?!
It's SOO cool!
It's wee, less than 1 cm.
Check out the amazing clear wings,
and cute, chubby body.
A serious little expression on his/her face.
I think I'm in love.
*sigh*
My day is MADE.
Everything else is gravy.
So cute!
Seriously, though, anyone know what this is, I'm all ears.
Ooh, and if we get an answer, I can file it in the species pages!!
sweet
Heavens, nature is an endless source of delight.
xoxooxbb
A pseudoscorpion, maybe?
ReplyDeleteLike this, for example: In the bathtub.
ReplyDeleteNice find. A planthopper in the Issidae family? Possibly related to this: http://bugguide.net/node/view/165727
ReplyDelete@Susannah, I love pseudoscorpions, how cool you got one. However, my creature has super cool, and pretty big (relative to body size) wings, so I don't thing that's it. Although, before I looked more closely, the wing windows fooled me and it looked like maybe a crab spider (facing the opposite way) with its arms hooked around in a circle on each side, not unlike the claws of a pseudoscorpion.
ReplyDeleteThen I looked closer, and oh, my! =)
@Katie: MOST excellent!! I was def. flipping through planthoppers and friends, but did NOT find yours, which looks very MUCH like it. Thank you SO much--a HUGE lead. =)
Oh, I see now; I was looking at the critter backwards, and interpreted the patterned wing borders as chelicerae. Now that I look more carefully, I see the veins in the transparent centre of the wings.
ReplyDeleteOh, and that wasn't my pseudoscorpion, that was from Tim Eisele's blog. I've only found one, quite a bit smaller.
ReplyDeleteYes, it seems the best candidate is Katie's suggestion, Dictyonia obscura, http://bugguide.net/node/view/165756/bgpage. It also resembles, Dictyssa obliqua, http://bugguide.net/node/view/287374/bgpage, but the head on mine and Dictyonia obscura is pointier than that of Dictyssa.
ReplyDeleteThey are both issid planthoppers, family Issidae, http://bugguide.net/node/view/15675/bgpage.
Also, to Susannah, I'm thinking with the two spots on their rear end (perhaps rudimentary eyespots) and the mirage of grasping arms that the windows make via the wings may be an adaptation. It certainly worked on us, we both thought it was some kind of predatory creature, upon first glance...
Thanks, that makes me feel not quite so stupid. Well, not quite as smart as a bug, but still ...
ReplyDelete:)
"Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteHi, I worked for as a GIS intern at Cabrillo in the old bunker. I love your blog. Thanks JP"
Hey, JP, that's a freaky coincidence. Hope you are well and glad you enjoy the blog. =)
ReplyDelete