News
In Any Language, These Little Devils are Striking!
2024-04-16
Carmon-Ríos, M. G. [2020a.] Insectos Diablitos; Los Membrácidos ¡Pequeños y Llamativos! [Devil Insects: The Membracids are Small and Striking!]. Museo Nacional de Costa Rica [National Museum of Costa Rica]. Online publication.
[This wonderfully illustrated popular article on treehoppers is available in Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Topics treated include: treehopper morphology (the pronotum) and behavior (reproduction, parental care, communication, and symbiotic relationships).]
[This wonderfully illustrated popular article on treehoppers is available in Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Topics treated include: treehopper morphology (the pronotum) and behavior (reproduction, parental care, communication, and symbiotic relationships).]
2024 Treehopper Gathering Scheduled for 31 May to 2 June, Little Orleans Maryland
2024-04-04
Charles Bartlett (the esteemed entomologist, not the character in movie “Charlie Bartlett”) has scheduled the 32nd Gathering of Treehopper Enthusiasts (31 May to 2 June 2024) at the Ridge Rider Campground, Little Orleans, Maryland. Please join our aggregation/celebration at this 222-acre campground, located in the Upper Potomac River valley of Western Maryland. Our informal gathering provides not only an excellent opportunity to collect, study, and photograph treehoppers (and “lesser insects”), but also to meet others passionate about these endlessly fascinating creatures.
Contact Dr. Bartlett to obtain further information, or to reserve a campsite with our group (and to be added to the Gathering’s email list). Participants are expected to provide their own tents, food, and camping gear, and to share in the cost of the group-camping registration and the group meal provided on Saturday evening.
Remember to bring your collecting vials, insect nets, unidentified specimens, cameras, bathing suits, a folding chair, and your favorite t-shirts.
Contact Dr. Bartlett to obtain further information, or to reserve a campsite with our group (and to be added to the Gathering’s email list). Participants are expected to provide their own tents, food, and camping gear, and to share in the cost of the group-camping registration and the group meal provided on Saturday evening.
Remember to bring your collecting vials, insect nets, unidentified specimens, cameras, bathing suits, a folding chair, and your favorite t-shirts.
Cow Bugs and Keywords (April Foolery: 1 April 2024)
2024-04-01
“‘Must a name mean something?’ Alice asked doubtfully.” (Lewis Carroll, 1871 [dated 1872], Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There)
So, why are certain treehoppers called “cow bugs”? (Fig. 1, below).
A. These insects don’t answer to “Betsy,” “Angus,” “Sheila,” or any other common or Latin name. They don’t answer to “cow bugs” either, but perhaps it was useful to give them a name.
B. The common name “buffalo treehopper” was already taken.
C. In true “cow bugs” the treehopper’s pronotum has two lateral horns somewhat resembling the horns of a cow.
D. Many treehoppers are attended by ants that feed on the hoppers’ honeydew secretions, and, in doing so, the ants appear to be guarding, herding, and “milking” aggregations of miniature cows with six legs (thus, cow bugs).
E. Both “C” and “D” have been proposed as the real reason for the common name. So, in most publications, “cow bugs” refers to a number of ant-attended, horned species of the genera Anchon, Otinotus, Leptocentrus, and Oxyrhachis that occur in India. Thus “E” is arguably the preferred answer.
Fig. 1. “Cow Bugs,” adults and nymphs with honeydew-feeding ants. [Image of Oxyrhachis pandata © Copyright 2003, by Michel Boulard.]
Ants "milking" mini cows . . .
Top Ten Reasons for Omitting the Name of Your Study Group in the Title of a Publication on Treehoppers: . . . Who knew the name of the treehopper I study would be an essential keyword in searching the literature and retrieving all information on that group? . . . Let the Countdown begin . . .
10. Why trigger entomophobia in my readers from the get-go?
9. I’m not entirely sure if the bug I study is even a treehopper.
8. Does it pay to advertise that I am an entomologist? They get so little respect and my child may want to run for president some day.
7. Why do we have editors and reviewers, if not to catch such omissions?
6. In this day and age, one assumes AI will take care of such trivial details.
5. As a very visual, creative, original, and controversial free spirit, I believe eye-catching photos of treehoppers will grab your attention over some “yada yada yada” title. By the way, do you dig my glittering Bocydium earring?
4. A paper title is more friendly if it lacks words that nobody can pronounce.
3. My hidden agenda: an ambiguous, intoxicating title will trick readers into thinking my ”half-vast” paper has vast importance.
2. I fear being hounded by the news media.
1. If loved ones learn of my extreme infatuation with treehoppers, they will surely stage an intervention.
"Well, I’ve had enough nonsense. I’m going home!" (Alice, in Disney’s 1951 animated film “Alice in Wonderland”)
So, why are certain treehoppers called “cow bugs”? (Fig. 1, below).
A. These insects don’t answer to “Betsy,” “Angus,” “Sheila,” or any other common or Latin name. They don’t answer to “cow bugs” either, but perhaps it was useful to give them a name.
B. The common name “buffalo treehopper” was already taken.
C. In true “cow bugs” the treehopper’s pronotum has two lateral horns somewhat resembling the horns of a cow.
D. Many treehoppers are attended by ants that feed on the hoppers’ honeydew secretions, and, in doing so, the ants appear to be guarding, herding, and “milking” aggregations of miniature cows with six legs (thus, cow bugs).
E. Both “C” and “D” have been proposed as the real reason for the common name. So, in most publications, “cow bugs” refers to a number of ant-attended, horned species of the genera Anchon, Otinotus, Leptocentrus, and Oxyrhachis that occur in India. Thus “E” is arguably the preferred answer.
Fig. 1. “Cow Bugs,” adults and nymphs with honeydew-feeding ants. [Image of Oxyrhachis pandata © Copyright 2003, by Michel Boulard.]
Ants "milking" mini cows . . .
Top Ten Reasons for Omitting the Name of Your Study Group in the Title of a Publication on Treehoppers: . . . Who knew the name of the treehopper I study would be an essential keyword in searching the literature and retrieving all information on that group? . . . Let the Countdown begin . . .
10. Why trigger entomophobia in my readers from the get-go?
9. I’m not entirely sure if the bug I study is even a treehopper.
8. Does it pay to advertise that I am an entomologist? They get so little respect and my child may want to run for president some day.
7. Why do we have editors and reviewers, if not to catch such omissions?
6. In this day and age, one assumes AI will take care of such trivial details.
5. As a very visual, creative, original, and controversial free spirit, I believe eye-catching photos of treehoppers will grab your attention over some “yada yada yada” title. By the way, do you dig my glittering Bocydium earring?
4. A paper title is more friendly if it lacks words that nobody can pronounce.
3. My hidden agenda: an ambiguous, intoxicating title will trick readers into thinking my ”half-vast” paper has vast importance.
2. I fear being hounded by the news media.
1. If loved ones learn of my extreme infatuation with treehoppers, they will surely stage an intervention.
"Well, I’ve had enough nonsense. I’m going home!" (Alice, in Disney’s 1951 animated film “Alice in Wonderland”)
Studies on the Extraordinary Genera Oeda and Pyrgonota (2024)
2024-03-29
Camacho, L. F.; Ávila, J. E.; Flórez-V., C. 2024a. Mechanisms preventing animals to achieve buoyant flight [sic]. Journal of Natural History 58(9-12): 440-448. [Open access publication]
[Species of the treehopper genus Oeda have greatly inflated, balloon-like pronota and, in 1954, Richter even reported that one Colombian species exploits the principle of buoyancy to fly. The present paper addresses the question of whether Oeda, or indeed any animal, can generate a buoyant force sufficient for flight. Click on the link above to learn what the authors conclude and to view the five known species of Oeda.]
Lin, C.-Y.; Maruyama, M.; Yap, S. A.; Lin, C.-P. 2024a. Host plants and nymph morphology of an endemic treehopper, Pyrgonota bifoliata, in the Mount Makiling Forest Reserve, Luzon, Philippines, Journal of Natural History 58(5-8): 270-284. [https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2024.2314965]
[Recent research indicates Pyrgonota bifoliata is apparently a complex of nine cryptic species endemic to the Philippine archipelago. Species of this complex are distinguished from all other Old World treehoppers by an exceptionally elevated pronotum that terminates anteriorly in a bifurcate process. This new publication focuses on the species previously designated as P. bifoliata cryptic sp. 1, and the morphology of its last instar nymphs are described in detail. In the study area, Piper umbellatum and Saurauia latibractea were the major hosts for both nymphs and adults, but adults also occurred on Alangium and Ficus. Although nymphs were gregarious and ant-attended, adults were solitary, not ant-attended, and no evidence of maternal care was observed.]
[Species of the treehopper genus Oeda have greatly inflated, balloon-like pronota and, in 1954, Richter even reported that one Colombian species exploits the principle of buoyancy to fly. The present paper addresses the question of whether Oeda, or indeed any animal, can generate a buoyant force sufficient for flight. Click on the link above to learn what the authors conclude and to view the five known species of Oeda.]
Lin, C.-Y.; Maruyama, M.; Yap, S. A.; Lin, C.-P. 2024a. Host plants and nymph morphology of an endemic treehopper, Pyrgonota bifoliata, in the Mount Makiling Forest Reserve, Luzon, Philippines, Journal of Natural History 58(5-8): 270-284. [https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2024.2314965]
[Recent research indicates Pyrgonota bifoliata is apparently a complex of nine cryptic species endemic to the Philippine archipelago. Species of this complex are distinguished from all other Old World treehoppers by an exceptionally elevated pronotum that terminates anteriorly in a bifurcate process. This new publication focuses on the species previously designated as P. bifoliata cryptic sp. 1, and the morphology of its last instar nymphs are described in detail. In the study area, Piper umbellatum and Saurauia latibractea were the major hosts for both nymphs and adults, but adults also occurred on Alangium and Ficus. Although nymphs were gregarious and ant-attended, adults were solitary, not ant-attended, and no evidence of maternal care was observed.]
