#eurybrachyidae

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#1655 - Platybrachys barbata -  Teeth-marked Gum Hopper

Another find by Chuen Man Chang‎ in Brisbane. This particular species is only known from that area. 

The Broad-frons Planthoppers (Family Eurybrachidae, Tribe Platybrachini) are quite diverse in Australia. Adults are generally mottled for camouflage, and live on the trunk or larger branches of Eucalypts and Acacia. They may sidle off sideways, or even backwards, if they think they’ve been spotted, or if really pressed will leap off with a loud TICK and fly away.

Eurybrachid nymphs, on the other hand, have a pair of long wax filament attached to the end of their abdomen, and resemble small insects back to front They even walk backwards to complete the illusion. If attacked, they will leap forward, which confuses predators that were expecting them to jump the other way. 

You may have noticed the white fluffystuff attached to her abdomen - that is the powdery wax they pack over and around their eggs, laid on the trunk of the host tree. It’s intended to protect the eggs, but it doesn’t work against the parasitic wasps that target them, or against any ladybeetles that find the eggmass and chow down. 

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Platybrachys Gum Hoppers being cute.

Wellard and Beeliar, Perth