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Project Noah Nature School
Magia subocellata
This is probably the biggest and most colourful hopper nymph I've seen - the tails were 3cm long (see third shot). A huge thanks to Dr Ken Walker from Museum Victoria for his advice re the species ID.
That's awesome Ken, I will look forward to checking it out when it goes live. : )
Actually, what's happening here is "freaky" stuff for Biosecurity - thanks for using that term correctly. Until the advent of and use of social websites to report possible invasive species, such report primarily was done by scientists and ONLY to government institutions (EG. DPI). Overseas websites such as Project Noah are now hosting Australian invasive reports - how do Australian scientists monitor or check such reports? Fortunately, you contacted me directly through PaDIL. An alternative maybe to offer an Australian socially networked, science image based website. I have been funded by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) to build such a website. To me, this is the socialization of science that "scares" many in workers in Biosecurity. The new Australian social is called BowerBird and it will be live by June 2012. It will offer many of the cool features available in Project Noah and other similar sites (eg iSpot, iNaturalist, Mushroom Observer etc) but several new features and new ways to interact with the website and between members of the website.
Hope that all sounds exciting. We would love to have many Australian Biosecurity citizen science "eyes" enjoying sharing images, forums etc but also being part of surveillance for invasive species.
Cheers. ken
He was pretty fat already! ; ) I'm very pleased that he's probably not a problem... I wasn't looking forward to telling my father-in-law that he is harbouring a biosecurity threat.
Hi Shanna -- Great pictures and thanks for contacting me through the PaDIL website. This nymph definitely belongs to the family Lophopidae which is represented in Australian by only 3 known species: Lophops saccharacida (an introduction from PNG) and 2 native species of the genus Magia stuarti and Magia subocellata. It is always difficult to associate nymphs with adults when the nymphs look so different! However, I have worked with some of the Zophiuma species from palm plantations in West New Britain and I do not believe your nymph belongs to this genus. Rather, I believe it to be the native species Magia subocellata which is known to occur in your area.
Thanks for notifying someone about your concerns. You can make such notifications on the PaDIL website or contact your local DPI (Department of Primary Industries) office.
Best wishes,
Ken Walker
Oh cool, thanks... I was looking for a blaring red button that said 'Click here to report possible threats!!'
Thanks Argybee. How do I go about reporting it? I can't find anything on PaDIL or the Aus Govt Biosecurity website that says anything about reporting possibly-suss findings.
Hi shanna.. ashish didn't mean to say wiki page. The link is to PaDiL. You might consider reporting a potential threat to Aus. It's easy to do. I've made false reports twice now :)) but glad I did. You will probably be contacted by Dr Ken Walker who is in ProjectNoah (kwalker I think)
Mine doesn't have the red and black stripes on its chin, but it looks like a really close match. (Great idea re the Wiki page Ashish... but there's no way I have the knowledge to set up something on insects!) ; )
Hmm... Even closer. I see in the link creamy ground colors and some bright red sprinkles but not "clearly" reddish net-like markings.
The nymph in link #2 is definitely the same on, but I don't think it is the same one as the nymph in your link #1, which is not confirmed as Magia subocellata. Link #1 shows a greenish/bluish back with some iridescence and no black spot and no reddish/white/creamy which is yours and the one in link #2 showing. So I would agree with the family, but not with the species Magia subocellata with my eyes and heart.
Thanks Ashish and bayucca. Ashish, the Lophopidae looks right... possibly Magia subocellata. bayucca, do you disagree? I guess the really difficult thing is that neither of these sources are actually SURE what it is either.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2010/01/04/i...
http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_...
Never give up! Game is starting again...
Fulgoroidea. Might be Eurybrachyidae or as Ashish suggested a Lophopidae.
Definitely a planthopper nymph.
Here are some link to check:
http://www.oocities.org/brisbane_plantho...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/youcantryre...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/burtonandy/...
http://mamat-black.blogspot.com/2010/11/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurybrachyi...
http://www4.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/flickrwr...
THANK YOU Asergio and Ashish. Now I am trawling through my hopper resources to try and figure out what species it is... I think I will have to give up for now, I could be stuck here for the rest of my life trying to find it!
Spotted on Mar 19, 2012
Submitted on Mar 19, 2012
+1
