Photo by Sarah Hadley

Species of the day – March 8, 2013 – Treehoppers or Thorn bugs (Membracidae) and a giant fly

These treehoppers were on the stem of a tree at one of the sites where we work. The big “thorn-like” ones are the adults and the smaller ones are the nymphs. Treehoppers pierce plant stems and then feed on sap. They are often very well camouflaged as thorns to prevent from being spotted by predators.

Later on we found this giant horse fly (Diptera). I would not want to get bitten by it! The mouthparts of this particular individual were damaged in the net. The nets are designed so that birds do not tend to get too tangled. If a researcher is well trained and careful they will almost never injure a bird. However, large flies, bees and beetles are very difficult to extract from the net since they tend to get net wrapped tightly around their different body segments. We try to extract these insects as unharmed as we can, but it can be very difficult. Thankfully most fly right through the nets without getting caught.