Who’s hiding in there?

Every year of my life I’ve had these little guys in my Texas landscapes. I wasn’t sure what I had initially, but the most user-friendly university entomologist ever, H.A. Turney took me aside and introduced me to planthopper nymphs.

He said they were commonly called among his professional friends “flatid planthopper nymphs” or “cottony planthopper nymphs.”

This species (I’m sorry, but I didn’t write down H.A.’s identification) shows up along the stems of my purple wintercreeper euonymus groundcover plantings every summer. I also used to see it on my azaleas back when I had more sun and could grow them. I don’t know that it favors those species. I just know that’s where I’ve found it.

These little creatures, if you can get them out on their own, are fascinating to look at. They’re all about camouflaging themselves for protection. In this case, all this frass is just their hiding place. Stick your finger up close to it. Magic will happen.

This page shows several different types and will amaze you.

But their camouflage alone isn’t enough. These little scoundrels are ultra mobile. They’ve earned the rights to call themselves “hoppers of plants.” From that same page, here’s a link to a 47-sec. video from the Smithsonian Channel. I’ll guarantee this will bring a smile to your soul!

Need some good news? These guys are harmless. Show ‘em to your kids and then to their kids. Let them learn that nature is wonderful!