I found the bug in my garden last month. I would like to know what kind of insect it is. It jumped back and forth when I got close with my camera. For a moment I thought the dark bump on the side was a tick or something, but it turned out to be another curled-up creature. The ‘tail’ resembled a brush consisting of several hairs.
I am very curious!
Answer
Dear Charlotte,
you have found a juvenile (not adult) dwarf cicada (Cicadellidae). The wings are not fully developed yet. These animals belong to the large group of cicadas (Homoptera) which also includes the ‘true cicadas’, the large insects with translucent wings that produce the typical summer sound in the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Dwarf cicadas are very common and can be found on all kinds of shrubs. They mainly eat juices and the ‘tail’ is nothing but superfluous sugars that are excreted in the form of more or less long filaments.
Much information about these animals can be found under ‘leafhoppers’ and ‘Cicadellidae’.
The ‘black ball’ is probably a parasite, but without a microscopic examination I cannot say much about it.
Kind regards,
Rudy
Answered by
Dr Rudy Jocque
Arachnology Zoology Biodiversity
Leuvensesteenweg 13 3080 Tervuren
http://www.africamuseum.be
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