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Project Noah Nature School
Sextius virescens
These cute little Treehoppers appear to be green and brown with some yellow. Approximately between 1.5 to 2.5 cm (0.6 - 1 inch) long with two small horns.
Hanging about on a small tree near the edge of the waterhole at Galvan's Gorge.
I had spotted the Green Weaver Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) walking up and down the branches of this small tree. After looking closer I noticed they were protecting these little Treehoppers! Check out the little video: https://youtu.be/xtCFXEg-THw Very cool. Here's some cool info: "Treehoppers are True Bugs and they suck the sap of tree branches and often exude excess water and sugars in the form of honeydew. Honeydew is a very sticky substance and these insects have various methods of cleaning themselves. It is postulated that this species uses an apparatus at the end of its abdomen known as an anal whip to flick the honeydew away from itself. Adults and nymphs are gregarious and often attended by ants that feed on the honeydew secreted by the bugs and in return the ants defend the plant and the treehoppers from predators." (Queensland Museum - http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+about/... ) Thank you Jellis for the identification.
Spotted on Apr 25, 2017
Submitted on May 7, 2017
14 Comments
Thanks Mark!
The video is .MTS which is apparently an extension for AVCHD (I actually have no idea what that all means :D ) I have looked it up on youtube without being logged in and can get it to work but here is the link for it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtCFXEg-...
Hope that works!!!
Great spotting Liana.
Just wondering what format is your video as I can't see it? .mp4?
Can you also paste a link in comments?
Just updated the video link (in the notes section) because the old one wasn't working.
Thank you Hema!!! Liana
Thanks heaps Jim! That means a lot :)
I agree!
Nice spotting, and spot on Photography, Liana!
Thank you Christine Y! It's always fun trying to get a little recording of something...they never do what you want, when you want ha ha
Thank you for identifying the little Treehoppers Jellis!
Cool spotting! Love the addition of the video.
As for the hopper it might be a Acacia Horned Treehopper - Sextius virescens
http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_...
Thank you InkynebulaFayeRetinioti for pointing me in the right direction! After checking out some pics I had decided they must be some kind of treehopper...then I saw your post Machi so that settled the treehopper thing for me! Thank you. Now I am just delving into the images to see if I can find it at all :)
Definitely treehoppers! Many ants will guard treehoppers and protect them and then harvest the "honeydew" from the treehoppers.
They belong to hemiptera, I don't know the species but it is a start :)