I was just out photographing cycad cones for a new entry, when I happened upon this bizarre creature. It would appear to have eight legs, with the forelegs raised completely over the animal, presumably in an expression of defense. The noodle-like embellishments on the ventral surface of these legs (at least) appear to add a degree of emphasis to the expression.
Tucked under the bulk of the animal, between the short leg in the foreground (pointing towards the bottom left corner of the image) and the bulbous mass aligned with the central vein of the leaf, is another appendage that looks suspiciously like a palp. This would imply that the head of the animal is most proximal to the top left corner of the image and that the rear legs have been hyper-extended up and over the animal’s back.
The total length of the animal, legs excluded, is less than 4 mm.
Any ideas?
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.
Neil Hewett says
October 6, 2007 at 9:11 pmI have been duped! It is a spider-mimicking insect. I returned after dark to see it behave quite differently.
The eye, which seems eminently obvious now, signifies the direction that the animal would head, up and along the central vein. I could only imagine six tiny little legs propelling the animal forward, whilst the eight splayed ‘pseudopods’ remained unmoving; giving the animal an ethereal ‘astro-travel’ impression.
I suppose these structures are modified cerci http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercus
Isn’t nature marvellous?
Wocky says
October 7, 2007 at 2:20 amRespectfully, that’s a terrible photo (well, it’s artistic, but no good for identification.) Secondly, I haven’t got a hope of identifying the animal if I don’t know where it was found – I don’t even know what country it was in.
Neil Hewett says
October 7, 2007 at 6:47 amWocky,
The animal was found on a new leaf of an unidentified under-story plant in the Cooper Creek lowlands of North Queensland’s Daintree rainforest; Australia.
The animal is tiny and on that basis, the photograph was surprisingly clear, but I agree that it is not good for identification. For me, its greatest ambiguity is in its mimicry.
Hope this helps.
gavin says
October 7, 2007 at 9:21 pmBet its something Neil made up from his electronics box just to test the camera lights.
Neil Hewett says
October 8, 2007 at 5:24 pmThe CSIRO Insect Identification and Advice Service http://www.csiro.au/services/IAS.html believes it is a nymph from the order Hemiptera likely from the family Fulgoroidea (plant hopper) and that little more can be determined based on an image alone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgoromorpha
Jennifer says
October 8, 2007 at 8:18 pmThat sounds about right… a plant hopper … interesting the white fussy protruding structures.
Great photo!
You will need an adult for definitive identification … maybe you could put a sleeve over the branch to restrict the movement of the nymphs and see what they morph into?
Jennifer says
October 8, 2007 at 8:20 pmCorrection… they were on a cycad cone … could you snap it off … put it into a small cage/jar and see what they morph into?
Neil Hewett says
October 8, 2007 at 9:40 pmUnfortunately, it was gone the following morning. But now that I know they exist, I’ll remain prepared.
Gary says
October 10, 2007 at 11:56 amAwesome work. What a find!