Flatid Planthopper

Description:

Flatidae; Flatinae; Phyllyphantini; Geisha; G. mariginellus Walker, 1858, this is an exquisite little planthopper from the Order: Hemiptera. When I first saw a Flatid Planthopper many years ago, when I was even more of a novice than I am now, my first thought was butterfly or moth? It was only in more recent years, when I took to amateur entomology a little more seriously, I realised that I was looking at the Tegmina (something akin to Elytra) of this creature. The wings are actually much more slender with a whitish translucency. in fact the whole creature seems to be disproportionately small inside the Tegmina. I only discovered this when I came across a dead one (7 or 8 years ago) and opened the Tegmina to have a look inside.

Habitat:

These groups of G. mariginellus were spotted just off the roadside, in a tangle of foliage, during one of my treks up into the local hills. The altitude was around 150 to 200 feet above sea level. The nearest human dwellings were more than 100 metres away and were very few and sparse. This was my first time to see several groups of Flatids in close proximity. I had previously always seen solitary specimens. J. G. Myers in his 1922 Paper "Life History of Siphanta acuta" mentions "The nymphs of that species which hatch from large numbers of eggs, disperse over their host plant in small groups during the five instar stages before finally breaking away as solitary adults." Although he was documenting a different species of Flatidae, I think it is quite feasible that what I show in my pictures above is evidence of similar behaviour by Geisha mariginellus. There are some nice pictures at http://www.natureloveyou.sg/Minibeast-Ho...

Notes:

You will no doubt have noticed the white material clinging to the leaves and branches of the foliage. I cannot be absolutely certain, but I examined it as closely as the dense foliage would permit and came to the conclusion that this fluffy, waxy material is the remnants of moulted exuvia during the nymphal progression through the instars to adulthood.