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Shelf fungus and Planthopper nymph

Family: Cixiidae (planthopper)

Photo by Leuba Ridgway
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

This is one of the sweetest things, so far !
There were three small shelf fungi ( about 10 mm wide) emerging from a log and in one of them was sheltering a small (4 mm long) cixiid plant hopper nymph (pic1). In the third shelf fungus was the exuvia, from which the little nymph had emerged (pic 2). Pic 3 shows the nymph out of the shelter.
The grey coloured nymph can be seen in some detail in pics 4 & 5. It appeared to have a narrow rostrum, wing buds and a short dorso-laterally flattened segmented abdomen. The rear end showed two white tufts on each side. Antennae - ? aristate.

Habitat:

Seen on a damp decaying pine log, in a nature reserve.

Notes:

My thanks to Ken Walker for identifying the hopper nymph as Cixiidae. The fungus remains a mystery.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (1)

Cute. Its a good thing to have a roof over your head.

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