So the Yellow Passionflower (Passiflora lutea) was the last plant in the woods that I took note of.
The Little Bluestem laid ahead in a small glade.
Out in the glade I stopped at a Croton to look for the Goatweed Leafwing caterpillar. However I didn’t find any, but this tiny fella was there. And it was only about 3mm. I hoped it would stay put so I could get a closer look.
And I was glad I did! It was delightfully beautiful!
And the more I look, the more fascinating it looked with the stripes on the head and chunky base on the antenna.
Top side!
And it was a Delphacid Planthopper (Liburniella ornata). Furthermore there is only one in this genus in the eastern US and Canada. Like all Planthoppers (Fulgoromorpha) the proboscis has a stylet bundle that contains two canals (The Insects – Gullan & Cranston 2005). One for delivering salvia and the other sucking up the fluid. Now isn’t that cool! While browsing Insects of North American – Abbott & Abbott 2023 said they can be found on flowering plants or woody fungi on rotten logs.
The Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) was blooming! And a tiny sweat bee was too busy to worry about me. Trying a new app I found called the BeeMachine, it had a 47.3% confidence level that it was in the sweat bee genus of Lasioglossum. So this might be a handy new tool that is available on both Android and Apple.
So it pays to get down close to find some really cool insects!
Thank you for that article about the partial lunar eclipse. And at reasonable hours instead of 3 in the morning or something. Cool planthopper.
Yes I agree. Reasonable time. 😊
Very cool planthopper. Bluestem, my very favorite grass
I had no idea bees would visit grass pollen!
Ok my favorite is the Ig Nobel Prize article – especially mammals breathing via their anus. Lots of laughs in that one!
Leafhopper is beautiful, colors and patterns. And good article on Rapa Nui – I have read the book Collapse so found it especially interesting.