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Pink hopper juice bar

Ipoella porriginosa

Photo by Mark Ridgway
Published on Project Noah
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-37.8941, 145.302

Field Notes

Description:

A lone flushed pink hopper produces a clear droplet of nectar for two local ants.

Habitat:

On eucalyptus stem in open treelined sports field.

Notes:

Ipoella porriginosa (Signoret) - These treehoppers suck the plant juice. Within the juice, there are water and sugar - more than the leafhoppers need - so they are excreted as honeydew. The ants come for their honey dew and will protect the hoppers from other possible predators.
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/Ipoella+porriginosa

Reference Links:

Ipoella porriginosa (Signoret)

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (4)
AliceGreenup
This might be a form of mutualism, like the relationship between ants & aphids, where the ants protect the aphids in exchange for the honeydew the aphids release. Maybe the ants protect the leaf hopper in exchange for the liquid it's producing?
kittuandme
Nice pics!can u tell more about what they r doin?
drP
Beautiful pics!

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The Hoppers

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Photographed
PublishedFebruary 27, 2013

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