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Campylenchia latipes
tiny black ants and thorn mimic leafhopper
Goldenrod plant stems are hosting this thorn-shaped leaf hopper and it is being "tended" by a species of tiny black ant. This interaction of two ants per leafhopper was observed on one other occasion in the same meadow on a distant plant stem. The ants stayed with the hopper in this case. Observatinos mid-day very warm day. I observed no predation, just ants touching their antennae to the hopper body and sitting on it for an extended period of time, resting near the hopper in both separate cases.
Spotted on Oct 17, 2013
Submitted on Oct 17, 2013
1 Comment
Beautiful Treehopper! It's known as the Widefooted Treehopper or the Eastern Thornhopper. Please consider adding it to the global mission, The Hoppers: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/8096...