Species Carynota stupida - Stupid Treehopper

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Food · Remarks · See Also · Internet References

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Auchenorrhyncha (Free-living Hemipterans)

Superfamily Cicadoidea

Family Membracidae (Treehoppers)

Genus Carynota

Species stupida (Stupid Treehopper)

Explanation of Names

STUPIDA: a fanciful name, perhaps referring to the adult's low rounded crest (?) - the low rounded cranium of early humanoids housed a small brain, suggesting that these creatures were relatively "stupid" compared to Homo sapiens, which has a high domed cranium and larger brain

compare to the high rounded crest of the Marbled Treehopper (C. marmorata)

Numbers

one of four species in this genus in North America listed at nearctica.com

Identification

dark grayish with whitish spots and low rounded crest

Range

northeastern United States and southeastern Canada

Food

nymphs and adults feed on Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis) [and perhaps Paper Birch (B. papyrifera) ? ]

Remarks

page creation based on Andy Hamilton's identification of this image

See Also

Marbled Treehopper (C. marmorata) has a high rounded crest

Internet References

host plant [Yellow Birch] (USDA Forest Service)

presence in Quebec; list (Montreal Insectarium, Quebec)

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 28 June, 2006 - 7:27pm
Last updated 19 July, 2006 - 5:08pm

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