New treehopper discovered: Hebetica sylviae
An unexpected discovery happened in my own backyard! Surprisingly friendly solitary wasps were observed burying a number of treehopper (Family Membracidae) species in my flower bed. After a two-day excavation of the bed, I found more than 600 individual treehoppers, representing more than 20 species, and one species that had never been seen before.
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My daughter, Sylvie, was instrumental in the discovery as it was her heavy-handed watering of the flowerbed that forced dead treehoppers to float to the surface of the soil where I saw them! Due to her involvement in the discovery, the treehopper is being named after her-- Hebetica sylviae.
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In the summer of 2021, I was able to collect many live specimens to study in my lab. I am recording observations of the bugs at iNaturalist. If you see one of my bugs, please upload a photo here.
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The Paducah Sun and WKMS (our local NPR station) did stories on the new data and outreach to citizen scientists.
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I have recorded the first songs and mating behaviors of H. sylviae. Look for my next publication on this group soon!
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Hebetica sylviae
Sylvie and Laura, co-discoverers of a new treehopper species
Videos of wasp burying treehoppers
The sand wasp, Hoplisoides costalis, is seen here carrying a treehopper that it will bury in the soil where the wasp's larvae will feed on it.
The excavation
The flower bed was very large (I could lay down in it) and it took 3 days to fully excavate it. Most of the treehoppers were buried 2-3 inches beneath the surface and were deposited with developing wasp larvae, which fed on the hoppers.
I spent the summer sampling the flowerbed twice daily until the wasps left in mid-August. Ever since the discovery, I have been trying to find the treehoppers alive on their host plant, which I strongly suspect is a 60-ft pin oak. I have climbed on rooftops, scaled extension ladders, tried to lure them with backlights, and even used a power washer to spray insecticide into the tree. No luck yet. Anyone have a cherry picker I can borrow?
