Gregory's ServerI show this bug every year to my intro entomology students to see if they can figure out what body part all that undulating spiny weirdness is.
Heteronotus sp. treehopper, Ecuador.
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3 comments
 @alcootatooter @alexwild If that isn't confusing enough, I spotted this Tube Spittlebug, genus Machaerota, in Singapore, which superficially resembles family Membracidae. Fortunately, Nicky Bay corrected me and gave some info on them. 🙂 My observation on iNat: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/114631390 Answer: the weird structure is of uncertain function- possibly an ant mimic, or maybe a spiny defense- and is made from a greatly enlarged pronotum, which is the plate on the thorax just behind the head. The bug’s true abdomen is visible under the wings. |
@alexwild I would guess pronotum, largely because that is what gets elaborated in other treehoppers but it kind of looks like it is growing straight out of the vertex of the head.