Monday, January 12, 2015

Back Again... Passionvine Hopper Nymph

I know I haven't posted for a while, but I keep seeing things lately that I want to share with you all, so I am back again :)

I found this interesting looking wee fellow a few days ago.




What impressed me most, and made me pay attention and look closer, was the fact he (or she) had a lovely big fan of white 'fluff' on his rear end. Held up for all the world to see, like a peacock of the insect world. Most unusual.




He decided to hang around my room for a couple of days, during which time he moulted, and sadly his big tail of fluff got smaller during the moulting process.

It took me a while to figure out what this strange wee fellow was. Based on the shape of his body and his very good hopping ability - he hops like a giant flea! and the fact I found an adult one crawling the bean plant outside my door this morning, I think this wee fellow is a juvenile Passionvine Hopper.

The adults have wings, which he will gain when he goes through his final moult. The adults also lack the 'fluff' this wee guy had, but if it gets smaller which each subsequent moult, then this makes sense.

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