Source: Discover Life
The above picture shows this particular lantern fly (Fulgora laternaria) with its wings open. This is what it looks like with its wings closed.
Source: Discover Life
The closed wing photo gives credence to its other nicknames, the peanut bug or peanut head bug. Doesn't its head look like a peanut? You can't see the resemblance looking down from the angle in the first photo. This particular critter is found in Central and South America. As big as its head is, it can't bite; its mouth is more like a straw that it uses to suck juice out of plants. Both the big head and the 'fake' eyes are used to discourage and misdirect predators. Its third defense is releasing a skunk-like spray.
There are many different species of lantern flies, also called planthoppers because they sometimes hop like grasshoppers. They were originally called lantern flies because it was believed that they glow like fireflies. They don't, but the name stuck. Here's another strange one.
Photo by Richard Ling Source: Wikipedia
This guy (Pyrops candelarius) comes from southeast Asia and that long nose/mouth probes under bark and eats the sap of the longan and lychee trees. Here's what it looks like with its wings open.
Copyright Light Creations Source: ccs-hk.org
Here's a lantern fly (Lycorma delicatula) from China.
Photo by Henripekka Kallio Source: Wikipedia
Source: Hanyu.icba.com
Isn't it amazing how different they look with their wings open? They look so drab and ordinary, and with just a flip of the wings there's a true Cinderellan (is that a word?) transformation.
AWESOMEE..!
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