Tuesday 27 May 2014

It's Rude to Spit .....

.... unless you're a Frog Hopper producing what is colloquially known as Cuckoo Spit.
This is the way the nymphs protect themselves:

2014-05-26-11_Fotor

Now, what is this just poking its head out of the spittle?

2014-05-26-11b_Fotor

A cropped closer look:

2014-05-26-11c_Fotor

I do believe it is the head and front legs of a Frog Hopper.

Correction: After Adrian's comment that t might be a spider I checked today. It was in exactly the same place so I fished it out. Then I could see that it was a small spider which had perished in the sticky spittle.

Macro photos taken with Canon 50D + 70-200mm zoom + Raynox macro lens.
1st photo is 2 stacked shots and the 2nd is 4 stacked shots using Zerene Stacker.

A good description of the life of a Frog Hopper can be found on this BBC site.
Link opens in a new tab / window.

7 comments:

  1. Well spotted.
    No frog hoppers up here yet but they would make a good time lapse.

    ReplyDelete
  2. John, I've just been looking again and it could be a spider invading the cocoon or spit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Correct Adrian. 'Twas in exactly the same place today so I fished it out. Small dead spider.

      Delete
    2. A million years from now the spiders will have learnt to deal with the spit. I'll have to look up what it's made of, A million years from now the spit will have evolved so the spiders will still die in it. Insects have got the world sorted.

      Delete
    3. I'm guessing an Orb Spider.

      Delete

Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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