I can usually get a general idea of a bug's family by consulting my field guides but nymphs are throwing me for a loop this season. They're out and about for a limited time and I don't have a "Guide to the Nymphs of Ohio."
Bugguide.net saved the day again. This is a nymph in the genus Acanalonia. The adult is familiar, it's a Planthopper.It just happened to be hanging out on the nest of a Potter Wasp.
Potter Wasps build their nests of mud, paralyze small caterpillars with a sting, then load them into the nursery pot where eggs are laid which feed on the caterpillars when they hatch. Gruesome and complex! The wasps are considered beneficial since they keep caterpillar numbers in check.
Potter Wasps build their nests of mud, paralyze small caterpillars with a sting, then load them into the nursery pot where eggs are laid which feed on the caterpillars when they hatch. Gruesome and complex! The wasps are considered beneficial since they keep caterpillar numbers in check.
9 comments:
Hi Jain...It takes all kinds to make the world tick ...and these are some interesting parts of it !!!
Thanks for sharing...amazing the things we don't see... that go unnoticed!!
I'm pretty good with the nymphs of aquatic insects, but the terrestrial ones throw me for a loop. Thanks for sharing the image.
Grace, and thanks for looking!
Scott, good to know I'm not the only one not up on my terrestrial nymphs.
Thanks for the Bugguide links. I finally got around to putting my mystery from a month ago on there last night, and someone quickly posted that it was a fresh cicada which was more than I knew before. I was suspecting extraterrestrial.
Anything that kills a caterpillar is a friend of mine. Sometimes I focus so much on finding a commercial organic remedy to our pest problems that I don't think to look for a living one.
greentangle, glad that Bugguide was able to give you a quick i.d. They're great, and so fast!
Thomas, caterpillars are thick this year. It's a full-time job keeping hornworms off my tomatoes.
...he is an interesting looking fella! Is the white cottony-looking stuff plant fiber...or on the nymph? (Also...so sorry to read about the snake in the previous post...)
Hi Kelly,
When I first saw the nymph (much smaller than the photo on your screen), I thought it was two creatures: a bug and a white aphid. There's a clearer photo on this page:
http://www.leaps.ms/Natural%20Calendar%200810.htm .
I read two theories on the white structure. It’s a tail. Or, as the link above indicates, "The nymphs of many species exude a waxy substance from special glands in the abdominal area. These waxy strands, which can be seen in the images, form a plume behind the nymphs and may help in concealment." Well I don't know how concealing it is, it was pretty eye-catching to me!
Thank you for your condolences on the snakes. I took them to the riverbank and they were gone the next day, so at least they provided a meal for another creature.
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