Meet the lanternfly, an insect whose appearance can delight any nature lover. Its main feature is a huge, elongated growth on its head, resembling a long, long nose. This bizarre “snout” immediately brings to mind the famous fairy-tale character whose nose grew when he lied.
However, unlike Pinocchio, the lantern fly does not deceive with its “nose.” Scientists are still debating the exact purpose of this strange feature. Perhaps it is a modified part of the head that simply scares off predators with its menacing appearance, although the insect itself is completely harmless.
In fact, fireflies are peaceful neighbors that feed on plant sap. Their bright, often contrasting colors also serve as a warning to birds and lizards. Let's take a closer look at this amazing creature, whose life is much calmer than its extravagant and somewhat comical appearance suggests.
Range, habitat, and conditions
Fireflies (also known as glowworms, fulgurids, or light-bearers) live all over the world. They are particularly comfortable in tropical forests in Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia, and Latin America.
At the same time, insects they are constantly exploring new territories.. For example, in the 2010s, this tribe of semi-hard-winged insects actively spread across the American continent and even became a real scourge for local agricultural workers.
Lanternfly
Fireflies live in areas where there are enough trees and other lush vegetation. Here, insects find both food and protection.
Note! In their habitats, fireflies can be found sitting motionless (and eating) on plants — they can remain in this position, as if frozen, for hours. They are diurnal creatures.
Appearance
A distinctive feature of lanternflies is their long, upward-pointing “nose.” “Even Pinocchio would envy it,” joke researchers of these hemipterans.
Although, in reality, the protuberance is neither a “nose” nor a tail (as it may also appear). It is the front part of the frontal part of the head.
Head of the Fulgora laternaria
Mordochki insects can be straight or curved upward. Sometimes they are inflated to the size of the entire body of the weevil. The elongated part of the head is necessary for weevils in order to:
- pierce-drill the bark of trees (several centimeters deep at once);
- penetrate hard-to-reach parts of plants and suck out their sap.
In the latter case, the “nose” mouthpiece on the head is used as a kind of drinking tube.
Length the length of leafhoppers ranges from 8 millimeters (their size in countries with a temperate climate) to 8 centimeters for the largest representatives of tropical species. On the head are located two eyes. Below them are sensitive antennae, which help them navigate the terrain.
Males and females may resemble moths in appearance, but with a wider abdomen. In addition, the insects are distinguished by the reticulated venation of their hind and front wings. The head and limbs of the insects are black or dark brown. The front wings are grayish with black spots. The hind wings have a pattern, depending on the species.
It is often very bizarre or shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow.
Males differ from females in:
- the color of the tail (in females, it has a reddish tint).
The abdomen of fireflies is capable of secreting a waxy substance in the form of white threads. Often, they cover almost the entire body of the insect, visually turning it into a “ball of fluff.”
In this case, wax again acts as a means of protection against:
- predators (which find the taste of such a shell very unpleasant);
- parasites (it is difficult for them to get through the wax);
- tropical rains (thanks to their structure, the threads repel water).
Pyrops candelaria
Housing conditions, care
Fireflies are tropical insects. Therefore, in captivity, they need to be provided with conditions “like in the tropics” and constant access to the nutritious sap of plants or trees.
However, it is not easy to provide “dense vegetation” in a terrarium — there is currently no information on the Internet about successful experiences of keeping such insects at home.
Pyrops delessertii.
Live lanternflies are also not available for sale on Russian websites.
Diet
Fireflies feed on tree sap. Both deciduous (willow, maple, poplar, apple, lilac, cherry) and coniferous (pine).
Insects often choose plants based on the amount of sugar contained in their sap. The more sugar there is, the higher the chances that a firefly will choose it. At the same time, insects often cause damage significant damage to plantings, which begin to dry out due to the damage they have received and die after a while.
Pyrops intricatus
With juice extracted from plants nose ticks receive the amount they need:
- glucose,
- sugars,
- proteins and fats.
Please note! American researchers claim that in the United States, the “favorite” tree of lanternflies is the tallest ailanthus, which is particularly prone to insect infestations.
Also, lanternflies occupy vineyards — wild or found on farmland. At the same time, insects cause irreparable damage (to plantings and crops), for which they are often called “silent killers.”
Interesting! While feeding, lanternflies extract much more sap from plants, shrubs, and trees than they need. The excess is excreted as sticky secretions, which then remain on the plants. These secretions attract bees and other insects (some of which already know about the sweet secretions and wait for them nearby).
Reproduction
The insect's life cycle is only one year. After mating, female mantises lay eggs.
This occurs in autumn — from September until the first heavy frosts. The eggs overwinter, and in the spring (usually in May) insects hatch from them — nymphs (young immature individuals that are significantly smaller than adult lampreys). After that, the nymphs have to go through several stages of development before reaching maturity in July or August. By this time, reproductive maturation occurs — lampreys become ready for mating and laying eggs.
Lanternfly (Pyrops cf. lathburii, Fulgoridae)
They lay them down in large quantities and often indiscriminately on a variety of surfaces:
- tree trunks;
- plant stems;
- posts, fences, and rocks;
- transportation on the street and various street equipment.
Please note! Often, eggs are unintentionally transported by humans (on wheels and under car hoods) to other regions, contributing to the spread of fireflies to remote areas not yet colonized by them.
One female can produce at least two egg clutches per season. Each of them contains 20 to 50 eggs. The optimal temperature for the development of future insects is between 15 and 30 degrees Celsius.
Lanternflies
Color variations, morphs, and popular subspecies
According to various sources, this family of hemipteran insects includes up to 700 different species. The most famous of these are the Surinam lanternfly (one of the largest among the nosetails, reaching 8 cm in length) and the Asian lanternfly (which has very bright coloring that scares away other insects).
Many species of lanternflies are brightly colored and difficult to miss. However, the other half of lanternflies prefer to blend in with the leaves. The “camouflage” of insects is a protective mechanism devised by nature that allows them to hang quietly on trees for hours and drink sap without fear of predators.
Surinam firefly
However, there are also fireflies that are capable of imitate the appearance of dangerous insects. Thus, Fulgoria laternaria the snake-headed lanternfly scares off enemies with its peanut-shaped head and pair of scary eyes.
To date, more than 500 species of lanternflies have been described.
Diseases and health maintenance
Lantern flies are hardy insects. In many countries, they are actively combated because of the damage that these long-nosed insects cause to crops.
However, the fight often does not bring the expected success.
Xosopharinae: Rentinus dilatatus
Note! To stay healthy, insects need constant “tropical” temperatures and sufficient food.
The lanternfly is a strange insect with a long growth on its head, similar to a nose, which could really surprise even Pinocchio. It lives in the tropics, and although it looks like something out of a fairy tale, its “nose” is actually an antenna that helps it navigate and smell. There's no magic involved, but it looks like it flew straight out of a dream.
Interesting facts about the insect
English-language websites offer live lanternflies from Peru for €14.50. However, in most cases, when you search for “buy a lanternfly,” search engines return information about dried insects framed in a frame (average price: 2,500 to 3,000 rubles).
In Latin America, where many species of fireflies originate, it was believed that the bites of these insects could be deadly. These superstitions are, of course, false — these insects do not bite and pose no danger to humans.
In China, on the contrary, these insects have been used in medicine since ancient times. Decoctions made from dried fireflies are used to relieve swelling.
In South Korea lantern flies are considered pests that pose a threat to grapes, stone fruits, and ornamental plants. Here, insects are controlled using sticky tape wrapped around trees. This measure against lantern flies has proven to be effective.
However, spraying plants often does not help to avoid a mass appearance of lanternflies. It does not work particularly well against weevils. A more effective means of protection against their “invasion” is the natural enemies of insects living in the area, which can use weevils for food.
Pyrops oculata
Note!
However, there are not many enemies of lampreys. Nose-peckers have learned to coexist peacefully with other insects and even
geckos
, which obtain nutritious secretions of excess sap from them.
So, the weevil is an amazing example of how nature can create forms that seem almost fairy-tale-like to us humans. Its famous “nose,” which is not a mouth at all, serves as a vivid illustration of the complexity and sometimes deceptiveness of the insect world.
Although its appearance may cause surprise or even fear, this insect is completely harmless to humans, agriculture, and gardens. Its main diet consists of plant juices, which it extracts using a real but hidden proboscis.
An encounter with a lantern fly is an opportunity to take a fresh look at the diversity of life around us. It reminds us that even in the familiar landscape of a park or forest, we can find a real-life Pinocchio, whose unusualness is not fiction but reality, created by evolution.
