This is the Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula). An impressive 2 inch exotic Fulgorid type thing from China and Southeast Asia, it is a bark sucker and can do tremendous damage to smooth barked woody plants. The Ag folks are concerned about things like apple, peaches, and grapes, but there are indications that other native plants may be at risk.
Currently found in 6 counties in PA, efforts to eradicate it are ongoing, but it continues to spread. Any sightings of something like this should be reported to your local Ag Extension Office if you are in the U.S. One final note is that this species favorite late season host is Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima). Another reason to remove this exotic wherever it occurs.
Photos, in part, by Sydney Price. Specimen from USDA APHIS. I would love to have additional fresh specimens particularly of the strikingly colored nymphs.
The real question here is “what is smart?” because rationalizing is something we as the human species invented in my opinion (what is “good” and what is “bad”). Anyhow, the question is still interesting, let’s look at the phylogenetic tree shall we:
Following the “if the clade is younger, the animals are more adapted/advanced”-argument, flies, butterflies and hymenoptera should be most “intelligent”. I think intelligence can be “measured” in cognitive behavior, and we know some examples of moths reacting to chemical cues. But this is not “real learning”.
Bees, bumblebees, wasps and ants are however capable of learning behavior. In nature, these animals live in colonies and are able to protect other individuals altruistically and care for larvae that are not even from their own. In addition, bees have developed the interesting “bee dance” in order to communicate about food-sources, and if I remember correctly, bees even learn the dance from other workers. Orchids even have some interesting co-evolution going on with inexperienced bees, indicating that bees can learn which flowers they can visit.
THIS INSECT IS NOT A WEEVIL ITS WINGS AND TAIL JUST FORM A FAKE WEEVIL FACE WITH FAKE EYES AND FAKE ANTENNAE AND A FAKE SNOOT, ITS FACE IS ON THE RIGHT, IT’S A PLANTHOPPER
Not even the only astonishing thing under the link either, it’s a whole gallery of sometimes barely documented rainforest mimicy for page after page
Photos that I have been proud of, spaced about a hundred and fifty days apart.
It’s always good to see that I’ve learned something in the last four years.
It hasn’t quiiiiite been another four years, but here’s how I’ve progressed since (Photos spaced ~150 days apart since the last in the previous series)
holy shit this ambush bug convergently evolved the same claws as a crab!!!??
I’m sure some people are like “yeah don’t a lot of bugs have that” NO, THEY DON’T, this is the first I’ve ever seen this in an insect!
The only source I can find is just this blog, but I can’t find a latin name. They do provide a comparison between this and the forelegs of other ambush bugs:
The “crab claw” in this photo though looks like even yet another species from the first one. Is it a whole group like this?? I have no idea
PiraticOctopus 