Look at this!
This insect was floating in the pool the other day, still alive, and we fished it out so it could dry off. It was gone about half an hour later. It is absolutely amazing looking and we have never seen anything like it.
So I turned to my friend, Claudia, who is a protozoologist and also a fellow artist here in Atenas. She also lives part of the year in Saintes, France, and her blog posts from there are so interesting to read. As usual, she solved our insect query in short order and here is what she said:
" It's a Hemiptera, a "True Bug", belonging in the insect group called "Planthoppers". They all look a bit like plants, one way or another. This one, a Fulgora laternaria, is called peanut-headed bug or alligator bug. It's harmless, no teeth! Just a sap-sucking snorkel-mouth. What looks like big, black eyes are just dots to scare potential predators."
So thank you, Claudia, and thank you peanut-headed bug for showing us yet another fantastic creature of Costa Rica.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment