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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Hoppers (Auchenorrhyncha) » Cicadas, Spittlebugs, Leafhoppers, and Treehoppers (Cicadomorpha) » Leafhoppers and Treehoppers (Membracoidea) » Typical Treehoppers (Membracidae) » Smiliinae » Smiliini » Ophiderma » Ophiderma salamandra
Photo#117280
Black & White Tree Hopper 1 - Ophiderma salamandra
Copyright © 2007 Jo Ann Poe-McGavin

Black & White Tree Hopper 1 - Ophiderma salamandra
Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, USA
June 7, 2007
Size: 1/4 inch (6.35mm)
Do these usually bite!?
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Contributed by Jo Ann Poe-McGavin on 11 June, 2007 - 12:45am
Last updated 17 July, 2015 - 4:06pm

Ophiderma salamandra, tentative --det. M.S. Wallace
Moved from Ophiderma.
… v belov, 17 July, 2015 - 4:06pm login or register to post comments

Ophiderma
These only "bite" plants. Technically, they cannot bite at all, because they have piercing stylets instead of jaws.

There are two species that look like this, so you would need to include the size of the specimen to get a species name.
… Andy Hamilton, 11 June, 2007 - 7:48am login or register to post comments

 
Size: 6.35mm
Size: 6.35mm
… Jo Ann Poe-McGavin, 13 June, 2007 - 12:37pm login or register to post comments

 
Okay, I didn't think would "b
Okay, I didn't think would "bite"-but then what are doing that sort of pinches? Can they try to "stick" you? I know it sounds stupid but when they are landing on me at night by the light-they are doing something that feels like a stick or pinch.

My metric ruler is missing-again-I can only say about 1/4 inch
… Jo Ann Poe-McGavin, 11 June, 2007 - 1:55pm login or register to post comments

 
probing
Sometimes, plant-feeding bugs have to "probe" with their beaks to make sure what it is they are on. This is like a tiny pin-prick, and does no damage. Once, I picked up a cicada with crumpled wings, and let her walk on my fingers. She evidently thought a finger was the right size to be a twig, and started in drilling. (We both survived).
… Andy Hamilton, 12 June, 2007 - 7:47am login or register to post comments

 
Okay-yes that's exactly what
Okay-yes that's exactly what it feels like-I suppose I wouldn't have asked but since there were like 10 or so doing it at once-it was rather annoying. LOL!

I've been getting several hundred mixed species of hoppers come to my bug light each night and when I walk toward the light they sort of scatter and land on me but only the species here seemed to like to "take a taste". So I was curious.
… Jo Ann Poe-McGavin, 13 June, 2007 - 1:41am login or register to post comments

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