Category: Bug of the Week (Page 205 of 218)

Bug of the Week: Leaf-footed Bug

We were doing a bit of yard work when we came across this leaf-footed bug. These insects get their name from the leaf-like flanges on their hind legs.

leaf-footed bug

Note the light-colored zig-zag marking across the middle of its back.

Leaf-footed bugs have sucking mouthparts and sometimes feed of fruit such as cactus fruit, oranges or peaches. Although we do have citrus, I think this one is a visitor from our neighbors’ yard. Our neighbors have a pomegranate bush. Pomegranates are one of the leaf-footed bugs’ favorite foods.

Like many of their relatives, these true bugs can give off an odor when handled.

What White-lined Sphinx Caterpillars Eat

I was asked a question last week about what white-lined sphinx moth caterpillars eat. I had read that they eat wild relatives of the four-o’clock, a garden plant. A few weeks ago we visited Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park and I got some great first-hand information about what kind of plants the caterpillars feed on.

At the arboretum we found caterpillars on a native plant that is being used as a landscape perennial called pink guara (Guara lindeimeri). I noticed, however, the caterpillars were only eating the flowers. Often the flowers lack toxins or feeding deterrents found in the leaves or stems, although I don’t know for sure this is the case here.

whitelined sphinx moth

Some of the caterpillars were working on a plant called white ratany (Krameria grayi).

whitelined sphinx moth

whitelined sphinx moth

I needed a friend’s help to identify that one. The plant has pretty purplish-pink flowers, but they are inconspicuous. She said the plant is a partial parasite that takes food from the roots of fellow desert plants like bursage or creosote bush. I also found out that the flowers produce an oily substance rather than nectar (weird!), but that some native bees will take it to mix with pollen.

whitelined sphinx moth

Finally, we cheered the caterpillars when we found this batch eating the noxious weed, spotted spurge. Go white-lined caterpillars, go! (Sorry, the photo isn’t all that great).

For more information about white-lined sphinx moths and their caterpillars, check these previous posts:

Raising Caterpillars, which also has a photo of the adult

More About White-lined Sphinx Moth Caterpillars

Bug of the Week:  White-lined Sphinx Caterpillars

Bug of the Week: Smoke Tree Sharpshooter

Ever heard of a sharpshooter insect? Sharpshooter is the common name of a group of large leafhoppers. They are elongate, shaped like a torpedo, and feed on plants by sucking the juices.

Sharpshooters may have gotten their name from the fact these insects slip to the underside of a twig whenever someone approaches, in order to hide. They have relatively large eyes, and in the past I have had no luck getting one to sit still long enough for a photograph. I would spot one, and then -shuffle, shuffle- it was on the far side of the twig.

For some reason, this morning I found a whole group feeding who were more than willing to pose for me. Maybe because it was slightly windy and they knew I’d have trouble getting a good focus. ☺

smoke tree sharpshooter

These are adults and nymphs of the smoke tree sharpshooter, Homalodisca lacerta.

The nymphs are beige and lack wings.

smoke tree sharpshooter

The adults have bright red splotches on their wings and wild wavy patterns on their head.

smoke tree sharpshooter

Check out those eyes.

smoke tree sharpshooter

And as for shooting, these insects eject a stream of honeydew while they are feeding. If there are quite a few in a tree, it actually can look like a fine mist of rain on a sunny day.

These are both males. The females create prominent white spots on the sides of their wings. No one knows for sure why they do this.

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