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Treehopper

Cladonota benitezi

Photo by LaurenZarate
Published on Project Noah
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16.73, -92.93

Field Notes

Description:

After a heavy rain, I came across this incredible Treehopper stuck on it's side to a leaf, wiggling it's legs. I thought it was a piece of debris with ants pulling on it. I was amazed when I realized what it was. I haven't yet found one that looks like this one. It is about 7 mm long, as you can see from the 4th picture. The two large black bulbs of the ornamentation actually do not touch, by a fraction of a millimeter. From the front or the top (last picture) this little creature looks more like a bird dropping. It has a white spot on the very top of the thoracic ornament. The legs are punctate, but not hairy. Family Membracidae.

Habitat:

Heavy vegetation, km 11.5, Highway between Chiapa de Corzo and San Cristobal de Las Casas, 865 meters.

Notes:

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2010/11/26/the-surreal-treehopp…

Reference Links:

The surreal treehoppers « Why Evolution Is True

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (57)
LaurenZarate
Thank you Antonio, still no species ID for this one.
Maria dB
Belated congratulations on this marvelous series!
AntónioGinjaGinja
Beautiful capture Lauren,congrats on the welél deserved SOTD and thanks for sharing
Wild Things
Lovely spotting! Belated Congratulations!
sunnyjosef
Great spotting Lauren... and congrats!!
AshleyT
Congrats Lauren, what an interesting looking critter!
Sckel
Congratulations friend. you will agree with me that they resemble a rustic charcoal iron.
rams4d
Looks like an Alien. Impressive, congrats !!!
LaurenZarate
Thank you all so much for the wonderful honor of SOTD for this Treehopper. I am honored and humbled to be part of Project Noah and to have found so many friends all over the world who love nature as I do. May we all continue to find and share the amazing treasures that surround us all everyday.
dotun55
All that load. It's amazing. Congrats Lauren!
The MnMs
Congratulations! Cool spotting!
Andrea Lim
What a cool critter Lauren. Congratulations on your SOTD!
beaker98
Congrats Lauren! Very well deserved and an amazing organism!
KarenL
Congrats Lauren, your crazy looking little treehopper is Spotting of the Day! Facebook: https://upload.facebook.com/projectnoah/photos/a.10150595289465603.674700.10150120463815603/10154366528375603/?type=1 Twitter: https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/488859506060058624
LaurenZarate
Thank you so much for your comments, Mark, Adarsha, Bhagya and Carol :)
Carol Snow Milne
Absolutely amazing, incredible and wonderful! Great series and video too! WOW! Congratulations!
Adarsha B S
Such fantastic captures and videos :) You keep educating us well Lauren :) :)
Mark Ridgway
Nice video.. adds some reality for such a weird animal. Great work IDers. Marta it's tempting to say anything will fly if you throw it hard enough! Looking at this critter though I think it might come straight back.
The MnMs
Nice video! It can pick up speed. I wonder if they fly too?
LaurenZarate
I added a very short little video of this cute little beastie walking……..
LaurenZarate
Thank you so much everyone for all your wonderful comments, suggestions and favorings: Juan, Dilan, Neil, Sukanya, Mark, Audie, Linda, Sigg, Staccyh, Ana, Daniele, Rob, Tiz, Larry, bayucca, Cindy, Luis, Leana. And a very special Thank you to Juan and bayucca for all their work in searching for this species :)
LaurenZarate
Hi Juan, THANK YOU! You found it! I am so happy. There seems to be only a single picture on the internet that is repeated over and over and there are some references to it being found in Brazil and Bolivia. Your Cladonota is really neat too! I haven't found that one yet!
Juan DiTrani
It could be Cladonota benitezi. Take a look at this internet picture http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/zenphoto/cache/ancient-leviathan/treehoppers/cladonota-benitezi_595.jpg
Juan DiTrani
Hi Lauren. Your Membracid looks a little similar to this one (also from Mexico), so I guess it could be at least the same genus. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/6605114
bayucca
I had this one the whole day on my screen, so Ismael might be correct with Cladonota sp., for me it is either Cladonota or Sphongophorus sp., however, most of them are renamed into Cladonota. I dod not find any perfect match, specially the anterior bulb is confusing. Cladonota is a very variable gneus and there might even be a strong sexual dimorphism. I will keep an eye on it. http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2008/08/11/costa-rican-treehopper/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/alchisme/3559473839/ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Bcaplte.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Bcags2.jpg https://www.flickr.com/photos/alchisme/5409307311/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/alchisme/5409290401/ http://www.bio-nica.info/Ento/Homop/Membracidae/Sphongophorus%20sp.htm http://treehoppers.insectmuseum.org/public/public_content/show_without_checking_for_public_content/23443 http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Cladonota http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vYqHZYaTCX8/TRYJoiUn2AI/AAAAAAAAAL8/XeHULu15Hv4/s1600/membracid-1.jpg
LarryGraziano
Lovely sighting Lauren. Maybe this is one of the Cladonota. Theya are described as having a pronotum with irregular ornamentation extending upward, or with dorsal tubercles or protuberances. I think this fits on both accounts.
Tiz
Great details! Fantastic little thing!
RobThacker
Great find and series! congrats Lauren
staccyh
Wow, that's amazing!! Incredible that you found it, thanks for posting the photos for us :)
SG in CR
Great spotting! I'm sure this is some form of mimicry. Maybe to resemble some sort of bird dropping. It would be a good addition to the Mimetic Animals of the World mission, http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/8015991

Spotted for Missions

Mission
The Hoppers
Mission
Mexico Horn of Plenty
Mission
National Geographic's Great Nature Project
Mission
Insects from Mexico!
Mission
2014 Best Wildlife Photo

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Photographed
PublishedJuly 13, 2014

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