Flatid Leaf Bug (Flatida rosea) – adults on the top, nymphs underneath. Photo by By Charles J. Sharp – Own work, from Sharp Photography, sharpphotography.co.uk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77800693

Dear Readers, as the cold weather arrives here in the UK (with a chance of snow), I thought I’d draw your attention to this remarkable insect. This particular one is found in Madagascar, where it spends its life in the dry tropical forests. The adults are gregarious, and rely on their resemblance to a pink petal to distract predators, but the nymphs are covered in a waxy white substance that can  make them look a little like a snowflake.

Photo By Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE – Madagascan Flatid Leaf-Bugs (Flatida rosea) nymphs …, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74758632

These little guys are very mobile, shuffling about on a plant  stem and even leaping into the air if disturbed. The family that they belong to (the Flatidae as you ask 🙂 ) is very widespread, with variations in Asia and in North and South America.

This is the Madagascan one….I love all the insect and frog sounds in the background too…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ9r_cCastA

This one, that looks a little like a cotton bud or piece of popcorn, is from Ecuador…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip4qpKXPyd4

And here are some from Burma, though calling them ‘Ridiculous’ and ‘Comedy Creatures’ doesn’t give them enough respect in my view.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EVLJChVV48

What all these bugs have in common is a great love for plant sap – they exude honeydew, and  this makes them popular with some birds, who might either eat the bugs themselves, or drink up the honeydew exuded onto leaves. In Madagascar, the Coquerel’s Coua is a honeydew specialist.

Coquerel’s Coua (Coua coquereli) – Photo By DickDaniels (http://carolinabirds.org/) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99602451

Generally, though, those white waxy excrescences on the back of the bug work not only to make it look like a piece of lichen, but to extend their ‘radius of sensitivity’ – the slightest touch of one of the ‘hairs’ is enough to make it spring into the air, as we see in the Burma clip above. What splendid and unlikely creatures these are!