the red-faced turtle , emydura victoriae ( gray , 1842 ) , is a species of medium-sized aquatic turtle in the family chelidae .

the species inhabits rivers , streams and permanent water bodies across much of northern australia .

red - faced turtle

northern yellow - faced turtle ( emydura tanybaraga ) in the finniss river catchment , nt .
cann , j . 1997 . the northern yellow - faced turtle . monitor 9 ( 1 ) : 24 - 29 , 34 - 35 .
the red - bellied short - necked turtle , also known as the jardine river turtle ( emydura subglobosa ) , is a species of australian short - necked turtle indigenous to australia and papua new guinea ; in the former location , they are considered highly endangered .
the party had said that the turtle’s limbs had been hacked off and the perpetrators had then sprayed the dead animal’s shell with red paint , an act of “a sick mind” .
a green party announcement condemning the brutal torturing and killing of a sea turtle at a paphos beach caused confusion on social media on tuesday , after it emerged that the turtle had been washed ashore dead and marked as counted with red paint by a government official .
however , local daily phileleftheros later reported that the turtle had been washed ashore and bathers who found it informed the government’s marine turtle protection programme .
post - ocular stripe typically bright red , fading with age ; iris without leading and trailing dark spots ; macrocephaly in adults common .
emydura : ' turtle - tail ' . victoriae : after the victoria river , northern territory .
the following morning , a programme official went to the beach , recorded the turtle’s species , dimensions , and condition , obtained tissue samples for dna testing , and spray - painted its shell red so that it wouldn’t be counted again – and also to prevent use of the shell by anyone .
after being informed of a dead turtle at the yeroskipou beach on sunday night , the department said , it notified the cyprus wildlife society , which implements the turtle protection programme in collaboration with the fisheries department .
chelonoidis chilensis gray , 1870 ( turtle ) the type specimen was labeled
valparaiso
( a port in chile ) , so gray named the turtle chilensis . however , valparaiso was only the ship ' s point of departure . that species of turtle is found only in paraguay and argentina , east of the andes .
ms pearce says freshwater turtle shells can become soft and susceptible to damage if animals are not cared for correctly .
meanwhile , news of the turtle’s ‘brutal killing’ reached the green party and prompted their statement on monday , which claimed that the fisheries department couldn’t be bothered to find the people who carried out the killing and sprayed the turtle .
according to the fisheries department , the dead female turtle was a caretta caretta , measured at 70 by 68 centimetres .
tortoises of australia . angus and robertson , sydney . cann , j . ( 1997a ) georges short - necked turtle
they prefer to spend a majority of their time in shallow , muddy waters . the coloration of hatchlings and juveniles are stunningly red or orange , hence their name , though these vibrant colors will fade as they age .
georges , a . , doody , j . s . , eisemberg , c . , alacs , a . a . & rose , m . ( 2008 ) carettochelys insculpta ramsay 1886 - - pignosed turtle , fly river turtle . chelonian research monographs , 5 , in press .
hydromedusa wagler , 1830 ( snake - necked turtle ) unrelated to the cnidarian hydromedusa , known also as anthomedusa , athecate hydroids , and other names .
turtle taxonomy working group [ van dijk , p . p . , j . iverson , a . rhodin , h . shaffer , and r . bour ]
wells , r . w . ( 2007c ) some taxonomic and nomenclatural considerations on the class reptilia in australia . some comments on the elseya dentata ( gray , 1863 ) complex with redescriptions of the johnstone river snapping turtle , elseya stirlingi wells and wellington , 1985 and the alligator river snapping turtle , elseya jukesi wells 2002 .
meiolania owen , 1886 ( oligocene - to - holocene turtle ) it was named meiolania (
small roamer
) in reference to megalania (
large roamer
) , a monitor lizard which it was first thought to be a smaller relative of . when more remains were found , it was realized that it was a turtle .
webb , r . g . ( 2002 [ 2003 ] ) observations on the giant softshell turtle , pelochelys cantorii , with description of a new species . hamadryad , 27 , 99107 .
encyclopedia of turtles . tfh publications , new jersey . ramsay , e . p . ( 1886 ) on a new genus and species of fresh water turtle from the fly river , new guinea
in a statement , the department expressed surprise at the “false reports” alleging the “brutal torturing of a turtle” , which reproduce claims made in a misleading statement by the paphos branch of the green party .
rhodin , a . , ibarrondo , b . r . & kuchling , g . ( 2008a ) chelodina mccordi , rhodin 1994 - - roti island snake necked turtle , mccord ' s snake necked turtle , kura kura rote . chelonian conservation and biology , 5 , 008 . 1 - 008 . 8 , doi : 10 . 3854 / crm . 5 . 008 . mccordi . v1 . 2008 .
georges , a . , doody , j . s . , young , j . & cann , j . ( 2000 ) the pig - nosed turtle . cooperative research centre for freshwater ecology , canberra .
alacs , a . a . ( 2008 ) forensics , phylogeography and population genetics : a case study using the northern snake - necked turtle , chelodina rugosa . phd thesis , university of canberra , canberra , australia .
thomson , s . & georges , a . ( 2009 ) myuchelys gen . nov . —a new genus for elseya latisternum and related forms of australian freshwater turtle ( testudines : pleurodira : chelidae ) zootaxa 2053 : 32–42 .
according to the reports , an officer then went to the beach and painted the dead turtle , to make sure it wouldn’t be counted twice . the officer then informed the municipality so they could remove the animal from the beach .
stegosaurus marsh 1877 ( dinosaur ) when o . c . marsh described the dinosaur , he thought that its distinctive triangular plates covered the creature like a giant turtle , so he named it stegosaurus , or
roof lizard
.
thomson , s . & georges , a . ( 2009 ) myuchelys gen . nov . - - a new genus for elseya latisternum and related forms of australian freshwater turtle ( testudines : pleurodira : chelidae ) . zootaxa , in press .
natural hybridization and evolution . oxford university press , oxford . artner , h . ( 2003 ) die rezenten schildkrötenarten der erde . emys , 10 ( 6 ) , ivxxxviii . artner , h . ( 2008 ) the world ' s extant turtle species , part 1
emmott ' s short - neck turtle , emydura macquarii emmotti ssp . nov . pp . 6061 in mccord , w . , cann , j . & joseph - ouni , m . ( ed . ) a taxonomic assessment of emydura ( testudines : chelidae ) with descriptions of new subspecies from queensland , australia
wells , r . w . ( 2009 ) some taxonomic and nomenclatural considerations on the class reptilia in australia . a new species of freshwater turtle in the genus wollumbinia wells 2007 ( reptilia : chelidae ) from eastern australia .
australian biodiversity record
, 2009 ( 1 ) , 112 [ privately produced , available from the author ] .
thomson , s . , kennett , r . , tucker , a . d . , fitzsimmons , n . n . , featherstoni , p . , alacs , a . a . & georges , a . ( 2009 ) chelodina burrungandjii thomson , kennett and georges 2000 - - sandstone snake - necked turtle . chelonian monographs , 5 , in press .
wells , r . w . ( 2007b ) some taxonomic and nomenclatural considerations on the class reptilia in australia . notes on the recently described freshwater turtle chelodina canni mccord and thomson , 2002 and a redescription of chelodina rankini wells and wellington , 1985 .
australian biodiversity record
, 2007 ( 1 ) , 15 [ privately produced , available from the author ] .
turtle taxonomy working group [ van dijk , p . p . , iverson , j . b . , rhodin , a . g . j . , shaffer , h . b . , and bour , r . ] . 2014 . turtles of the world , 7th edition : annotated checklist of taxonomy , synonymy , distribution with maps , and conservation status . in : rhodin , a . g . j . , pritchard , p . c . h . , van dijk , p . p . , saumure , r . a . , buhlmann , k . a . , iverson , j . b . , and mittermeier , r . a . ( eds . ) . conservation biology of freshwater turtles and tortoises : a compilation project of the iucn / ssc tortoise and freshwater turtle specialist group . chelonian research monographs 5 ( 7 ) : 000 . 329–479 , doi : 10 . 3854 / crm . 5 . 000 . checklist . v7 . 2014 .
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australian reptile photos , distribution maps and information covering snakes and lizards , crocodiles and turtles , including colubrid snakes , pythons , elapids ( called cobras or coral snakes in some countries ) , sea snakes , file snakes , blind ( or worm ) snakes , sea turtles , freshwater turtles ( or tortoises ) dragon lizards ( agamas ) , gecko ' s , legless lizards , monitor lizards ( often called goanna ' s in australia ) , skinks and crocodilia .
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syntypes : bmnh 1947 . 3 . 5 . 95 and 1947 . 3 . 5 . 96 ; wells and wellington ( 1985 : 14 ) designated bmnh 1947 . 3 . 5 . 95 lectotype .
beolens , bo ; michael watkins , and michael grayson 2011 . the eponym dictionary of reptiles . johns hopkins university press , baltimore , usa - get paper here
bonin , f . , devaux , b . & dupré , a . 2006 . turtles of the world . english translation by p . c . h . pritchard . johns hopkins university press , 416 pp .
bour , r . 2008 . global diversity of turtles ( chelonii ; reptilia ) in freshwater . hydrobiologia 595 : 593–598
cogger , h . g . 2014 . reptiles and amphibians of australia , 7th ed . csiro publishing , xxx + 1033 pp .
cogger , h . g . 2000 . reptiles and amphibians of australia , 6th ed . ralph curtis publishing , sanibel island , 808 pp .
georges , a . 1996 . electrophoretic delineation of species boundaries within the short - necked freshwater turtles of australia ( testudines : chelidae ) . zoological journal of the linnean society ( 1996 ) , 118 : 241–260 .
gray , j . e . 1842 . description of some new species of reptiles , chiefly from the british museum collection . zoological miscellany 2 : 57 - 59 . - get paper here
mccord , w . p . ; joseph - ouni , m . & cann , j . 2003 . chelonian illustrations # 7 . short - neck , western swamp , and pig - nose turtles from australia and new guinea . reptilia ( gb ) ( 27 ) : 64 - 68 - get paper here
wells , r . w . and wellington , c . r . 1985 . a classification of the amphibia and reptilia of australia . australian journal of herpetology , supplementary series , ( 1 ) : 1 - 61 . - get paper here
wilson , s . & swan , g . 2010 . a complete guide to reptiles of australia , 3rd ed . chatswood : new holland , 558 pp .
worrell , e . 1963 . reptiles of australia . angus & robertson ( sydney ) , xv + 207 pp
this database is maintained by peter uetz ( database content ) and jakob hallermann , zoological museum hamburg ( new species and updates ) .
comments on social media charged that the green party rushed to politically exploit the incident without bothering to check the facts .
then , the municipal authorities were notified to collect and bury the dead animal , the statement said .
its body had started to decompose , hence the decayed limbs , but showed no signs of abuse .
he does though – never hear his voice protesting the shooting , netting and lime sticking of european migrating birds , many of whom are protected or endangered in their host countries . . social media has a thread calling a boycott after three hundred song thrushes shot in cyprus in just three days by a couple of hunters who thoughtfully provided a picture . they are protected and prized for their song in the uk .
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triturating surfaces of the maxillary sheath expanded , meeting medially to form a crushing plate on the roof of the mouth ; length of mandibular symphysis in adults about 1 . 5 times the horizontal diameter of the tympanum .
- georges & thomson ( 2010 ) . diversity of australasian freshwater turtles , with an annotated synonymy and keys to species . zootaxa , 2496 : 1 - 37 .
northern australia , extending across the kimberley region of western australia to the fitzroy drainage in the west .
note : these are general threats and may not apply to this particular species .
there are many ways you can help our reptiles . here are my top three suggestions :
georges , a . & thomson , s . ( 2010 ) . diversity of australasian freshwater turtles , with an annotated synonymy and keys to species . zootaxa , 2496 : 1 - 37 . - search web for this article
note : the links below are automatically generated . some may not take you to useful information .
notes and disclaimer this information may not be complete . while all care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the information in this page , primary sources should always be consulted for definitive information . animals have an endearing habit of disobeying the rules , so the information on this page should be interpreted with a degree of flexibility . the author and site operator accepts no responsibility for any losses or damages incurred through using this web site or the information contained herein . don ' t get bitten by anything ! this page may be cited as : emydura victoriae at the australian reptile online database . last updated 2013 - 10 - 02 22 : 20 : 11 . retrieved from urltoken on the 10th of july , 2018 . before citing information contained in arod , please read our citing arod page . copyright notice this page , its content and layout are copyright © 2007 - 2018 stewart macdonald / ug media , unless otherwise stated . all photographs in the australian reptile online database are © the photographer and may not be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the photographer . no part of the australian reptile online database may be reproduced without written permission from stewart macdonald .
- home - - rules - - etymology - - puns - - wordplay - - gene names - - misc . - - references - - feedback -
acinonyx ( cheetah ) from gk . akineo ( no movement ) + onyx ( claw ) , referring to the popular belief that cheetahs have non - retractable claws . this is not true . cheetahs ' claws are fully retractable , but their retracted claws remain exposed because , unlike other cats , they lack a skin sheath to cover them .
alligator ( alligator ) misspelling of
el lagarto ,
spanish for
the lizard .
ambrosia l . ( ragweed ) named after the food of the gods , this genus is a major cause of allergies . linnaeus was probably considering that ancient herbals recommended a . maritima to treat upset stomachs .
apidium ( early oligocene primate , from egypt ) the name means
little bull
( from apis and mnevis , a pair of bulls mentioned on the rosetta stone as being used in egyptian rites ) ; the fossil was orginally thought to be a hoofed animal .
apus apus ( common swift ) from greek for
footless
( see also paradisaea apoda below ) . the swift ' s feet are small but far from absent .
arctocephalos pusillus ( seal )
pusillus
means
very little
, but the seal grows to about 3 meters and one tonne . the type specimen was a juvenile not recognized as such at the time .
arrhinoceratops parks , 1921 ( ceratopsian dinosaur ) name means
without a nose horn face
. parks interpreted the fossil as having
no trace of a horn core
nor even a vestige of one . in 1981 helen tyson restudied it , stating ,
to deny the presence of a horn core in arrhinoceratops , which . . . possesses a distinct horn - like organ , contributes neither to the homology of this structure nor to an accurate characterization of the genus .
barbus viviparus weber , 1897 ( bowstripe barb ) not viviparous but egg - laying , like most fish .
basilosaurus harlan , 1834 ( eocene whale ) not a
king lizard
, and unrelated to dinosaurs . the original misidentified remains of several animals were combined and sent on a tour as a 130 - ft . extinct sea serpent . [ transactions of the american philosophical society 4 : 379 - 403 ]
bufo marinus ( cane toad ) the toad is adaptable to many habitats , but it is not marine .
columbicola extinctus malcolmson , 1937 ( flight - feather louse ) both these lice were reported from the passenger pigeon and were thought to have gone extinct with it , hence their names , but both are still living on other pigeons . c . defectus turned out to be a previously described species c . flavens .
cephalopentandra echirrosa ( cogniaux ) jeffrey , 1896 ( african plant ) generic name means
head - with - five - stamens without - tendrils
, but the flower has only three stamens , and the plant has tendrils .
chaeropus ecaudatus ogilby , 1838 ( pig - footed bandicoot ) the name of this extinct marsupial literally means
pig - foot tailless ,
but it had the longest tail of any bandicoot . it was described from a specimen which had lost its tail , though accounts differ whether the loss happened during the animal ' s life or during taxidermy .
cuniculus brisson , 1762 ( paca ) the name means
rabbit
in latin , but the paca is a rodent , not a lagomorph .
dinosauria owen , 1842 means
fearfully great lizard
( or , as often quoted ,
terrible lizard ,
but terrible in the sense of
awesome
) , but many were small and inoffensive , and none were lizards . it should be noted , however , that there is no latin word for
reptile ,
so
saur
had to stand in .
eonessa anaticula wetmore , 1938 ( eocene bird ) literally
dawn - duck duckling
, the fossil was first described as a primitive duck . the fossil has too little detail to determine its order , but more detailed work shows that it has little similarity to ducks .
epilachna vigintisexpunctata vigintisexpunctata ( 28 - spotted potato ladybird )
vigintisexpunctata
means 26 - spotted .
epilachna vigintioctopunctata pardalis ( 26 - spotted potato ladybird ) .
vigintioctopunctata
means 28 - spotted .
felis lacustris gazin , 1933 (
lake cat
) the name lacustris ( latin ,
lake
) does not indicate that this cat had aquatic habits , but indicates its place of origin , the hagerman lake beds . however , the sediments there are now interpreted as a flood plain rather than an ancient lake .
fregata minor ( greater frigate bird ) it was originally named pelecanus minor , the little pelican ; when moved to a new genus , priority demanded that it still be called minor . the lesser frigate is f . ariel .
gelidiophycus freshwateri boo , park , & boo , 2013 ( marine alga ) named after dr . d . wilson freshwater , who provided the first molecular systematic study of the gelidiales and showed that a new genus may be warrented . the alga is not found in fresh water itself . [ taxon 62 : 1105 - 1116 ]
geosaurus cuvier , 1824 ( late jurassic to early cretaceous marine crocodile ) means
earth lizard
, but it was strictly aquatic .
globicephala macrorhynchus gray , 1846 ( pilot whale ) john gray , working from skeletal materials only , guessed this whale had a large beak , or macrorhynchus in greek . but the pilot whale ' s head is quite rounded , suggesting anything but a beak .
haemophilus influenzae ( bacterium ) so named because it was thought to be the cause of influenza , until the virus was discovered in the 1930s .
hydrangea serratifolia ( hook . & arn . ) f . phil . ( hydrangea ) literally ,
with serrated leaves
, but leaf edges are typically smooth . the specimen hooker received from darwin had apparently been nibbled by pests .
hyracotherium owen , 1841 ( extinct equid ) the name means
hyrax - like beast ,
but it is a primitive horse , not a hyrax .
ixobrychus billberg , 1828 ( dwarf bittern ) the name means
mistletoe - roarer
. at that time , it was a common belief that bitterns blew into a reed in order to produce their booming call . billberg was not only mistaken about that , he also confused ixios ( reed ) with ixos ( mistletoe ) .
lawsonia inermis ( henna ) originally , henna was called by three names , lawsonia inermis , l . spinosa , and l . alba , referring respectively to a young spineless plant , an adult spiny plant , and a white - flowered variety . when botanists realized that these were the same species , they chose the name inermis (
unarmed
) for it , even though henna does have spines .
libycosaurus bonnarelli , 1947 ( miocene anthracothere ) the name means
lizard of libya
, but it is an artiodactyl mammal .
lobodon carcinophagus hombron & jacquinot , 1842 ( crabeater seal ) the scientists who discovered this seal , finding soft shell remains in its mouth , inferred that it fed on crabs and named it accordingly , but in fact it eats krill . crabs are not even found in its antarctic environment .
lygistorrhina sanctaecatharinae thompson 1975 ( fungus gnat ) described from a specimen from st . catherine ' s island , ga , so it should be spelled l . sanctaecatherinae .
megarachne hunicken , 1980 ( fossil terrestrial eurypterid ) named
big spider
based on its interpretation as an enormous upper carboniferous therophosid spider , and formerly listed by guinness as the world ' s largest spider . it is now shown to be a eurypterid , or sea scorpion .
metaspriggina simonetta & insom ( cambrian chordate ) named after , but unrelated to , the ediacaran organism spriggina .
miohippus marsh , 1874 and pliohippus marsh , 1874 ( fossil horses ) these names refer to the miocene and pliocene epochs , respectively . however , most miohippus are found in the oligocene , and all pliohippus are from the miocene . marsh believed that his miohippus fossils were from the miocene , but later work showed him mistaken . since pliohippus was first described , the genus was split in two , with the later pliocene horses reclassified as dinohippus , and the date of the pliocene epoch itself has shrunk . eohippus is still from the eocene , but it is not the scientific name because hyracotherium takes prescedence .
myrmecobius waterhouse , 1836 ( numbat ) the name means
lives on ants
, but this marsupial lives on termites , eating ants only incidentally .
myrmecophaga tridactyla linnaeus , 1758 ( giant anteater ) the specific name means
three fingers
, but it has five on each foot . four fingers on each front foot have claws , two of which are particularly elongate . the anteater does , at least , eat ants .
myxobolus cerebralis hofer , 1903 ( myxosporean parasite ) this parasite , the cause of whirling disease in salmon , was originally thought to infect fish brains . in fact , it is primarily a disease of cartilage .
naashoibitosaurus hunt and lucas , 1993 ( cretaceous hadrosaur ) so named because the type specimen was collected from what was thought to be naashoibito member of the kirtland formation , but in fact it came from an older member .
navicula antonii lange - bertalot ( diatom ) as stated in the paper ' s protologue , the name was intended to honor the late diatomist a . grunow ( the name navicula grunowii was already taken ) . but grunow ' s first name was albert , not anton . ( lange - bertalot later determined this name to be a synonym of n . menisculus var . grunowii . )
neoleptoneta myopica gertsch ( tooth cave spider ) the name implies near - sightedness , but the spider is blind .
neomylodon listai ameghino ( ground sloth ) ground sloths were thought to be still extant in south america during the 19th century . explorer ramon lista once shot at an animal which matched a crude description of one . when fresh - appearing dung and swatches of skin complete with reddish - brown fur and dermal ossicles turned up in an argentinean cave in 1888 , the animal was dubbed
lista ' s new mylodon .
20th century carbon dating revealed the hide to be roughly 13 , 500 years old .
nephanes titan newman , 1834 ( beetle ) this beetle is 0 . 4mm long .
odocoileus virginianus clavium ( key deer ) the subspecies name is from latin clavis , meaning
key ( as for a lock )
, but the florida keys to which the name refers are a completely different kind of key , derived from spanish cayo ,
shoal , reef .
a better latinization would be
cajorum .
the genus , which means
hollow tooth
, is also verges on being misnamed ; the type specimen had tooth cavities , but not moreso than other deer .
ornithocheiroidea ( a subgroup of pterosaurs ) british palaeontologist harry grovier seely was convinced that pterosaurs were the ancestors of birds , though , after much criticism , he altered his position to birds and pterosaurs having a close common ancestor . seely bolstered his arguments by making reference to birds whenever he coined the name for a newly described pterosaur : ornithocheirus (
bird hand
) , ornithostoma (
bird mouth
) , ornithodesmus (
bird link
) - - all within the ornithocheiroidea . seely even proposed replacing pterosauria with
ornithosauria .
in 1993 , ornithodesmus was recognized as a small theropod dinosaur and renamed istiodactylus howse , milner , & martill , 2001 . ornithocheirus and ornithostoma are still valid taxa .
ornithopoda and theropoda ( both dinosaur suborders ) the names mean
bird feet
and
beast feet
respectively . yet theropods are very bird - like ( indeed , birds evolved from this group ) , including their feet , and ornithopods are more beast - like . ornithopods were so - named for their three - toed feet , but those feet are still less birdlike than the three - toed feet of theropods .
ontocetus leidy , 1859 ( miocene walrus ) the - cetus means
whale
, but the tooth it was named for belonged to a walrus . onto - probably was intended to mean
existing
( it can also mean
dung
) , adding to the error .
oviraptor philoceratops osborn , 1924 ( theropod dinosaur ) the name means
ceratopsian - loving egg raider
because the first fossil was found with what was thought to be protoceratops eggs , but the eggs turned out to be its own ; most likely , it was guarding its own nest . ( osborn did note that the name could
entirely mislead us as to its feeding habits and belie its character ,
but he went with the name anyway . )
pan troglodytes ( linnaeus ) ( chimpanzee ) linnaeus , relying on unreliable stories , named a species homo troglodytes . it is not entirely certain which species , since he had no type specimen , but it was probably the chimpanzee , which carries the name today . but
troglodytes
means
cave dweller ,
and chimps do not live in caves .
paradisaea apoda linnaeus , 1760 ( greater bird of paradise )
footless one from paradise
; it was described from two skins brought to seville in 1522 by the victoria , the surviving ship from magellan ' s circumnavigational voyage . the native papuans had removed the specimens ' legs , and the europeans therefore assumed that the birds remained airborne their entire lives ( with the female laying and brooding eggs in a groove between the male ' s wings ) . a live individual captured in 1824 finally revealed that the bird spends most of its life standing on rather massive feet .
paradoxurus cuvier 1821 ( asian palm civet ) . the type specimen , at france ' s vincennes zoo , had a deformed tail , leading cuvier to think it was prehensile ( paradoxurus = ' with a strange tail ' ) . he called the type species p . hermaphroditus , misnaming it on both counts .
pelorovis ( extinct african cattle ) the name means
monstrous sheep
, but it is closely related to cows and buffalo .
peponocephala nishiwaki & norris , 1966 ( melon - headed whale ) the name was supposed to mean
melon head ,
but pepo does not actually mean
melon ,
and
pumpkin - headed whale
has not caught on in popular usage .
phytosauridae jaeger , 1828 ( triassic semi - aquatic reptiles ) name means
plant lizard
because the petrified mud fillings in the jaw of the first specimen found were thought to be herbivore teeth , but the creatures were wholly carnivorous .
picrophilus schleper et al . 1996 ( archaea ) this microbe is an extreme acidophile . the genus description says it derives from
gr . adj . pikros , acidic ,
but greek pikros means
bitter
, which is more often associated with alkaloids . [ ijsem 46 : 814 ]
picus awokera temminck , 1836 ( japanese green woodpecker ) its epithet is almost but not quite a tranliteration of its japanese name , aogera .
primobucco brodkorb 1970 ( fossil bird ) bucco is a genus of puffbird , and primobucco , from its name , should be a primitive bird of that kind , as it was once thought to be . primobucco ' s status is not entirely clear yet , but a puffbird it isn ' t .
procyon storr , 1780 ( raccoon ) the name means
doglike
, but raccoons are more closely related to bears .
prosauropoda von huene , 1920 ( group of long - necked dinosaurs ) mistakenly thought to be ancestral to the sauropods .
raphus cucullatus linnaeus , 1758 ( dodo )
raphus
comes from a vulgar term for
rump .
the dodo ' s common name and former scientific name ( didus ineptus l . ) are also perjorative . however , study of fossils show that wild dodos were sleeker and active ; their modern image came from overfed obese captive specimens and / or overstuffed specimens .
silphium l . ( 1753 ) ( rosinweed ) in classical antiquity ,
silphium
referred to a plant , valuable for seasonings and medicine , in the umbellifer family , probably a now - extinct member of the genus ferula . the genus silphium is in the asteraceae family .
sirenia ( manatees and dugongs ) columbus wrote in his log entry of 9 january 1493 ,
i saw three sirens that came up very high out of the sea . they are not as beautiful as they are painted , since in some ways , they have a face like a man .
columbus and many explorers who followed him thought these inoffensive , rotund , placid , aquatic vegetarians were the deadly sirens or mermaids of fable whose haunting songs lured sailors to their deaths .
speothos venaticus lund , 1842 ( bush dog ) named by danish naturalist peter wilhelm lund as a fossil from caves in brazil , thus its generic name meaning
cave wolf
. it was first described in living form in 1843 by the same person , but he failed to realise they were the same animal and named the living dogs icticyon , which name was used for speothos until well into the 20th century .
synthliboramphus wumizusume temminck , 1836 ( japanese murrelet ) the epithet is a mis - transliteration of the bird ' s japanese name , umi - suzumi .
thalassodromeus sethi kellner & campos , 2002 ( cretaceous pterosaur ) the genus name means
sea runner ,
referring to presumed skimming behavior , but further analysis shows the pterosaur was most likely a terrestrial forager . the pterosaur ' s large crest inspired the name
sethi
, after the egyptian god seth , but kellner probably confused seth with amun , who is depicted with a headdress shaped remarkably like the pterosaur ' s crest .
toninia aromatica ( turner ex sm . ) a . massal . ( lichen ) the lichen is odorless , but turner sent it to smith in a perfumed envelope .
tsaagan mangas norell et al . , 2006 ( cretaceous maniraptor )
tsaagan , mongolian for white ; mangas , mongolian for monster
, except mongolian for white is tsagaan . [ am . mus . nov . 3545 : 2 ]
tupinambis l . ( tegu ) linnaeus apparently got the name from piso & marcgrave ' s historia naturalis brasiliae ( 1648 ) , which , describing the lizard , begins ,
teivgvacv & temapara tupinambis
, or
[ it is called by the ] tupinambas ' teiuguacu ' and ' temapara ' .
rather than using a tupi name for the lizard , though , linnaeus took the name for the tupi ethnic group .
teiu - guacu
means literally
lizard - big
; there is another genus of south american lizard , teius , derived from the tupinamba name .
vulcanodon raath , 1972 ( sauropod dinosaur ) vulcanodon (
volcano tooth
) was described from teeth and a headless partial skeleton found in rocks of volcanic origin . it was later found that the teeth were from another ( non - sauropod ) animal . the skeleton called
volcano tooth
has no known teeth .
zoraptera silvestri , 1913 ( insect ) the name ( from greek ) means
pure wingless
, but some forms , discovered after the family was described , have four wings .
apterocyclus honoluluensis waterhouse , 1871 ( kauai flightless stag beetle ) . named at the british natural history museum from a specimen that was mailed in a package postmarked
honolulu
( on the island of oahu ) . its geographic restriction to the high elevation forests of the island of kauai was not realized until later .
blattella germanica linnaeus , 1767 ( german cockroach ) native to the great lakes region of east africa . carried across the mediterranean to europe over 1000 years ago .
bucco capensis ( collared puffbird ) : from south america , not the cape region of africa .
capsicum chinense although it is used in chinese cooking , it comes , like all other capsica , from the americas .
todus mexicanus lesson , 1838 ( puerto rican tody ) the bird is endemic to puerto rico , not mexico .
chrysolina americana linnaeus , 1758 ( rosemary beetle ) native to the mediterranean region , not america .
cupressus lusitanica mill . ( mexican white cedar )
lusitanica
means
from portugal ,
but the tree is native to central america . apparently it was described from portuguese cultivated trees . [ lorenzi , h . et al . 2003 . árvores exóticas no brasil , p . 30 . ]
cyclamen persicum ( persian cyclamen ) this primrose relative grows in many areas of the middle east , but it is not native to persia .
dacelo novaeguineae ( hermann 1783 ) ( common or laughing kookaburra ) . for novaeguineae = new guinea . sonnerat pictured this solely - australian bird in his new guinea book and claimed to have collected it there . he had in fact probably been given it by joseph banks , whom he met in south africa in 1770 .
eriobotrya japonica ( loquat ) originally from china , though grown in japan for 1000 years .
hibiscus syriacus ( rose of sharon ) from eastern asia ( it is the national flower of south korea ) , not from the levant .
hildewintera polonica ( cactus )
polonica
means
from poland .
the cactus is from bolivia .
hoplias malabaricus ( tiger tetra , a freshwater fish ) pieter bleeker , a dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist , stationed in java between 1848 and 1860 , had a wide network of outposts from where he received his specimens . in 1858 a fish he received was said to originate from
the west ,
which he interpreted as from the malabar coast ( india ' s west coast ) . now we know it came from much farther west , from the rio grande do sul area in brazil .
hoplodactylus duvaucelii ( dumeril and bibron 1836 ) ( duvaucel ' s gecko ) it is from new zealand , but the type specimen was believed to have come from india and so was named after french naturalist alfred duvaucel ( 1796 - 1824 ) who spent much of his life collecting in india .
lagerstroemia indica linnaeus ( crepe myrtle ) from china , not india . lagerström visited several asian countries , and linnaeus got this plant ' s origin wrong when he named it . also , it is a loosestrife , not a myrtle .
lilaeopsis chinensis ( l . ) kuntze ( eastern grasswort ) native to eastern north america , not china .
lodoicea maldivica ( double coconut or coco - de - mer ) native of the seychelles , but first thought to come from the maldives . for centuries , its giant seeds ( up to 44 lbs . ) had been found floating in the indian ocean , but the seeds cannot stand long immersion in sea water . the seychelles is their only home .
nerine sarniensis herb . ( guernsey lily ) sarniensis refers to guernsey (
sarnia
to the romans ) , one of the channel islands between england and france , but the lily is native to southern africa . one story is that a dutch ship carrying bulbs of the lily ran aground on guernsey , and the bulbs washed ashore and took root . another story is that the shipwrecked dutch sailors used the bulbs to barter with the natives , representing them as having come from japan . william herbert named the genus after the nereids , sea nymphs , treating the plant as a gift of the sea goddesses .
numenius madagascariensis ( linnaeus , 1766 ) ( eastern curlew ) linnaeus thought the type specimen came from madagascar . neumann ( 1932 ) presumed the skin arrived from makassar ( a portugal colony in sulavesi is . ) , whose name got confused with the better known name
madagascar
. however , stresemann ( 1941 ) has found that the specimen really was taken in the philippines . the species nests in ne asia and winters from philippines to australia .
opuntia ( cactus ) named after opus , a city in greece , although the cactus is native to the new world only . it is named after opus because pliny said it grew there , but he must have been referring to something else .
panthera pardus japonensis gray , 1862 ( north chinese leopard ) from china , not from japan , where there are no leopards .
pelargopsis ( halcyon ) capensis ( stork - billed kingfisher ) from southern asia , not the cape region of africa .
periplaneta americana linnaeus , 1758 ( american cockroach ) it hails from west africa and was spread worldwide by maritime commerce , reaching north america around 1625 .
pygoscelis papua forster 1781 ( gentoo penguin ) named for papua = new guinea . in his 1776 book on new guinea , pierre sonnerat claimed to have discovered three species of penguin on the island , so this species was named accordingly . in fact sonnerat had stolen the skins from the collection of fellow naturalist philippe commerson . there have never been penguins in new guinea , and sonnerat never travelled as far east as new guinea .
quercus canariensis wild . ( oak ) native to the iberian peninsula and northern africa ; not found naturally in the canary islands .
rattus norvegicus berkenhout , 1769 ( norway rat ) from east asia , not norway .
salvia hispanica l . 1753 ( spanish sage , chia ) described by linnaeus from a specimen apparently growing wild in spain , but it had been introduced from central america by an unknown person , probably for its nutritious seeds .
scilla peruviana ( lily ) from the mediterranean . it was named after a ship , the peru , which brought it from spain to england .
tangara mexicana ( linnaeus , 1766 ) ( turquoise tanager ) found in northern south america , not mexico .
teucrium asiaticum l . ( germander ) grows on the balearic islands in the mediterranean , not in asia .
turnagra capensis sparrman , 1787 . ( piopio , an extinct new zealand bird )
capensis
means
from the cape .
sparrman , who had sailed with captain cook , apparently did not remember the localities where his specimens had been collected and thought the piopio came from south africa . the bird also has a common name of new zealand thrush , although it is unrelated to the thrushes .
varanus indicus ( mangrove monitor ) : from northern australia , new guinea and sulawesi , not india .
zenaida asiatica ( white - winged dove ) from central america and southwest u . s . , not asia .
zonotrichia capensis ( bird , emberizidae ) it lives in south and central america , but was thought to be taken from cape town in south africa .
corydalis mediterranea z . y . su & lidén , 2007 ( herb ) this name is not wrong but may be misleading . mediterranea =
from the middle land
, which in this case is zhongguo , china . [ novon 17 : 490 . ]
echidna forster , 1777 ( eel ) not the echidna . here , the monotreme might more reasonably be considered misnamed , since latin echidna , from greek ekhidna , means
viper
. the monotreme echidna comes from the same word , but may have been influenced by greek ekhinos ,
hedgehog , sea urchin .
erithacus akahige ( robin ) common japanese name : komadori . reputedly , their skins got switched en route to the national natural history museum at leiden , netherlands .
fossa fossa ( fanaloka , or madagascan civet ) the civet with the common name
fossa
is cryptoprocta ferox .
fungia fungites ( linnaeus , 1758 ) ( coral ) it is , if not a fungus , at least a
mushroom coral .
gallinuloides eastman , 1900 ( eocene bird ) named after , but not closely related to , the gallinules ( various aquatic birds in the family rallidae ) .
hilsa regan , 1917 ( shad ) the fish with the common name of hilsa ( also ilish ) is tenualosa ilisha ( f . hamilton , 1822 ) . hilsa kelee , the only species in its genus , has common names of kelee shad , razorbelly , and fivespot herring .
lotus l . ( trefoil ) the common name usually refers to flowers of aquatic plants in the genus nelumbo or nymphaea . the mythical forgetfulness - inducing plant in homer ' s odyssey is thought to be ziziphus lotus , a buckthorn .
nasturtium ( watercress ) not the nasturtium ( tropaeolum ) . the common name came later , so it should be considered the misnamed one .
phoebe ( laurel tree or shrub ) not the phoebe birds , which are genus sayornis .
pinguinus bonnaterre , 1790 ( auk ) not a penguin . the name
penguin
was originally applied to the great auk and later to the antarctic birds . it came to apply exclusively to the latter as the auks were driven to extinction .
platypus herbst 1793 ( a beetle , family platypodidae ) not a platypus ( which is ornithorhynchus shaw 1799 ) .
puffinus puffinus ( manx shearwater ) not the puffin . it was described from a chick by a scientist who thought it was a puffin .
sequoia endl . ( redwood ) the tree with common name sequoia is sequoiadendron giganteum . both , incidentally , were named after sequoyah , a cherokee silversmith who invented a written form for the cherokee language .
thunnus albacares bonnaterre 1788 ( yellowfin , not albacore , tuna ) albacore tuna is t . alalunga . bonnaterre got his specimens mixed up .
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plestiodon is derived from the greek words pleistos meaning
most
and odontos meaning
teeth
. plestiodon = toothy skinks .
laticeps is derived from the latin word latus meaning
broad
and latin suffix ceps meaning
head
.
description : a large skink reaching a maximum snout - vent length ( svl ) of 143 mm ( 5 . 6 inches ) and a maximum total length of 324 mm ( 12 . 8 inches ) ( conant and collins , 1991 ) . in virginia , maximum known svl is 122 mm ( 4 . 8 inches ) and maximum total length is 287 mm ( 11 . 3 inches ) . tail length in the virginia sample was 44 . 1 - 62 . 4 % ( ave . = 58 . 3 ± 4 . 2 , n = 18 ) of total length .
scutellation : body scales smooth , shiny , and overlapping ; scale rows around midbody 28 - 32 ( ave . = 30 . 8 ±1 . 2 , n = 21 ) ; scale rows around tail 10 scales posterior to anal opening 16 - 20 ( ave . = 17 . 4 ±1 . 0 , n = 19 ) , 84 . 2 % of sample is > 16 ; mid - ventral row of subcaudal scales wider than long relative to adjacent scales ; supralabials 8 / 8 ( 52 . 2 % , n = 23 ) , 8 / 7 ( 40 . 4 % ) , or 7 / 7 ( 17 . 4 % ) ; posterior labial scale touching crescent - shaped temporal scale located above ear opening ( 38 . 6 % , n = 44 ; sides counted separately ) , separated from it by 1 or 2 small scales ( 52 . 3 % ) , or separated from it by another temporal scale ( 9 . 1 % ) ; labial scales between rostral and first supralabial entering eye ( = preorbital supralabials ) 5 / 5 ( 53 . 1 % , n = 49 ) , 4 / 5 ( 34 . 7 % ) , or 4 / 4 ( 12 . 2 % ) ; postnasals present ; mental single ; postmentals 2
sexual dimorphism : adult males ( 103 . 3 ± 12 . 5 mm svl , 76 - 122 , n = 26 ) averaged significantly larger than females ( 94 . 9 ±8 . 6 mm svl , 80 - 112 , n = 15 ) . sexual dimorphism index was - 0 . 09 . the heads of adult males were wider ( 13 . 3 - 26 . 6 mm , ave . = 20 . 9 ± 3 . 9 , n = 26 ) than those of adult females ( 12 . 7 - 20 . 3 mm , ave . = 15 . 4 ± 1 . 8 , n = 13 ) . vitt and cooper ( 1985a ) demonstrated that this difference remained after the covariation due to body size was removed . tail length relative to total length ( males 54 . 7 - 61 . 5 % , ave . = 59 . 2 ± 2 . 4 , n = 9 ; females 44 . 1 - 61 . 1 % , ave . = 55 . 3 ± 6 . 6 , n = 5 ) , scale rows around midbody ( males 30 - 32 , ave . = 30 . 6 ± 0 . 7 , n = 8 ; females 29 - 32 , ave . = 31 . 1 ± 1 . 2 , n = 9 ) , and scale rows around the tail 10 scales posterior to the anal plate ( males 16 - 19 , ave . = 17 . 0 ± 1 . 0 , n = 8 ; females 17 - 20 , ave . - 17 . 7 ± 1 . 0 , n = 9 ) were not sexually dimorphic .
adult males lose the body and tail stripes with age , becoming uniformly brown with a brownish - gray tail . the head in males becomes bright orange and enlarged in the temporal region during the mating season ( spring ) but fades and reduces in size in other times of the year . females lack the enlarged orange heads and retain the stripes for life , although they do fade somewhat .
juveniles : juveniles are black to dark brown at hatching , with light - orange head stripes and cream - to - orange - tinted body stripes . sublateral light stripes may be present . the stripes on the tail are blue . the blue tail color is usually retained until sexual maturity is reached ( about 75 - 80 mm svl ) . size at hatching in virginia p . laticeps averaged 32 . 1 ± 2 . 2 mm svl ( 28 - 35 , n = 14 ) and 75 . 9 ± 5 . 2 mm total length ( 65 - 82 , n = 10 ) . body mass at hatching is unknown .
geographic variation : the small sample sizes available from virginia preclude analyses of geographic variation in this species . davis ( 1968 ) examined large samples and noted several differences in scale characters among broad regions .
biology : broad - headed skinks are largely arboreal and , in virginia , inhabit open forested areas . they are most common in open , mature pine stands and in open stands of mixed hardwood - mostly live and turkey oak and loblolly and virginia pines . they have also been found on houses and barns in wooded areas . in south carolina , these skinks were most abundant in stands of live oak ( vitt and cooper , 1985a , 1985b ) . this skink prefers a more xeric habitat than p . fasciatus . all of the known virginia specimens were collected april through august . winter aggregations in underground retreats were found in alabama ( cooper and garstka , 1987 ) . the seasonal activity of this skink and the nature of its changes in habitat use between seasons are unknown .
the population ecology of this species is unknown . large adult males in south carolina guard their territories and the females within them , chasing smaller males away ( vitt and cooper , 1985a ) . this behavior suggests that territory placement is dependent on the availability and spacial distribution of appropriate trees and perch and nesting sites . thus , population sizes may be regulated by the structure of the habitat . adults of this species are probably the longest lived of any virginia lizard . cooper and vitt ( 1987a ) noted a male they collected in south carolina had a potential life span of over 8 years .
remarks : other common names in virginia are big scorpion lizard ( dunn , 1936 ) and greater five - lined skink ( carroll , 1950 ; schmidt , 1953 ; reed , 1957b ) .
conservation and management : plestiodon laticeps is not a species of special concern in virginia because of its wide distribution . in areas of urban development , however , this lizard will have difficulty surviving because of the loss of open wooded stands large enough to support viable populations , and because of mortality from humans and domestic cats . conservation of this element of virginia ' s biodiversity is best approached by the management of large , open wooded areas with mature and dead trees within them , and by control of predation by cats .
broad - headed skink ( top ) vs . five - lined skink ( bottom )
accomack county albemarle county alleghany county botetourt county buckingham county campbell county caroline county charles city county charlotte county chesapeake city chesterfield county clifton forge city cumberland county fairfax county fauquier county fluvanna county greensville county halifax county hanover county henrico county henry county james city county king george county loudoun county montgomery county northampton county northumberland county patrick county pittsylvania county prince william county rockbridge county stafford county suffolk city surry county virginia beach city warren county westmoreland county york county verified in 38 counties / cities .


the froghoppers , or the superfamily cercopoidea , are a group of hemipteran insects , in the suborder auchenorrhyncha .

adults are capable of jumping many times their height and length , giving the group their common name , but they are best known for their plant-sucking nymphs which encase themselves in froth in springtime .

froghopper

froghopper is miniature bug that can reach around 0 . 25 inches in length .
) . morphology and action of the hind leg joints controlling jumping in froghopper insects .
mouth apparatus of froghopper is designed for stabbing and extraction of the sap from the plant tissue .
froghopper is herbivore ( plant - eater ) . it eats sap of various species of plants .
watch the steady stream of honeydew droplets excreted by this beautiful froghopper as it sucks plant sap .
name
froghopper
refers to the frog - shaped head of this insect and its ability to jump .
driggers bf ; pepper bb , 1935 . the spittle insect or froghopper . new jersey agricultural experiment station bulletin 593 .
an adult froghopper ( aphrophora alni ) reaches a body length of under a half inch and can jump to heights of 28 inches .
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froghopper can jump 27 inches into the air . even though it is heavier than flea , it can jump higher thanks to strong , well - developed muscles of the hind legs .
second , does a froghopper have to anticipate the possible need to jump and thus hold its hind legs in readiness ? this would explain the cocked position adopted by the hind legs during walking .
froghopper is an insect that belongs to the group of true bugs . froghopper can be found around the world . it inhabits densely vegetated areas such as meadows , parks and gardens . froghoppers are numerous and widespread in the wild . several species of froghoppers are classified as agricultural pest due to ability to decrease the yield of commercially important species of plants ( such as sugar cane ) .
hind legs of froghopper generate g - force of 400 gravities , when it prepares to jump . this force is 80 times greater than g - force generated during the launching of the rockets into the space .
burrows , whose primary research interest is in how animals use the individual cells in their brains to generate movement , stumbled upon the froghopper ' s leaping agility while looking for an insect model to clear the next hurdle in his work .
philaenus spumarius , commonly known as a froghopper or spittle bug , is a mere 0 . 2 inches ( 6 millimeters ) long , but employs a novel catapult mechanism to launch itself upwards of 28 inches ( 70 centimeters ) into the air .
life cycle of froghopper consists of three developmental stages : egg , nymph and adult insect . nymph is often green colored and it looks like miniature , wingless version of adult . it molts several times until it reaches the size of an adult insect .
froghopper has two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs . first pair of wings covers the body like a tent . wings of some froghoppers form false head at the end of the body .
two headed - body
is designed to confuse the predators .
when disturbed , the adults can jump as high as 70 cm with enormous force using their powerful back legs . recent research has shown that within a millisecond they can accelerate to over 14 km / h ! very few potential predators could catch the common froghopper once it has jumped .
the adult common froghopper is not often seen by the casual observer . although it is 6 mm long , it can move so quickly when disturbed that it seems just to ‘disappear . ’ it is also not distinctively coloured : indeed , its pattern of coloration is very variable , often being various shades of mottled pale and dark brown , but also ranging from pure sandy brown to dull black . however , the nymph of the common froghopper is well - known for the distinctive white frothy ‘cuckoo - spit’ it produces – and hides within – on the stems of its food plants .
a sallow bush at the edge of the wood is home to a great many variegated willow froghoppers ( aphrophora pectoralis ) . like their more familiar smaller relative , the common froghopper ( philaenus spumariu s ) , their soft young live in “cuckoo - spit” , though these feed only on willows .
the common froghopper is found in a variety of habitats , but it is perhaps most abundant on waste ground and road - side verges where its weedy herbaceous food plants , such as thistles and mugwort , are often plentiful . within the ‘cuckoo - spit’ , the nymph of this species feeds by sucking sap from the food plant .
which of the five species of froghoppers examined is the best jumper ? the answer lies in which aspects of jumping performance are considered and how they are related to body mass and volume . the five species of froghopper analysed have a tenfold range of body masses ( 3 . 2 mg in neophilaenus to 32 . 9 mg in cercopis ) , and vary in length from 4 . 0 mm in neophilaenus to 9 . 8 mm in aphrophora .
a brief report on the kinematics of the jumping movements of a froghopper , philaenus spumarius ( burrows , 2003 ) , has demonstrated its jumping prowess , and a mechanism for jumping has been proposed for cercopis vulnerata ( gorb , 2004 ) . this paper analyses the detailed jumping performance of froghoppers and shows that in a jump they are airborne in less than 1 ms from the first propulsive movement of the hind legs . the enormous acceleration needed to achieve take - off velocities of over 4 . 7 m s - 1 in this short time is equivalent to 550 g .
spittlebugs are first noticed in late spring within white frothy masses of bubbles on grasses , herbaceous plants , shrubs and conifers . small nymphs of the spittlebug are mostly greenish with conspicuous red eyes ; different species may have different coloration . in most landscape gardens , there may be some wrinkling of the leaf or stem where the young spittlebugs are feeding . froghopper adults are found later in spring and summer . they look like leafhopper adults , but froghoppers are shorter and wider . one diagnostic feature is that the hind legs of froghoppers lack spines . damage from adults is slight .
spittlebugs are first noticed in late spring within white frothy masses of bubbles on grasses , herbaceous plants , shrubs and conifers . small nymphs of the spittlebug are mostly greenish with conspicuous red eyes ; different species may have different coloration . in most landscape gardens , there may be some wrinkling of the leaf or stem where the young spittlebugs are feeding , but generally their damage to plants is insignificant . froghopper adults are found later in spring and summer . they look similar to leafhopper adults , but froghoppers are shorter and wider . one diagnostic feature is that the hind legs of froghoppers lack spines . damage from adults is slight .
first , at what distance and with what sense does a froghopper detect an approaching predator ? a vibratory sense could give advanced warning of an approaching danger by detecting footfalls or movements of the plant on which it is feeding . this would allow the necessary time for developing the forces needed to jump ( burrows , 2007 ) . related families of auchenorrhyncha use this sense to communicate with each other on the same plant ( claridge , 1985 ; cocroft et al . , 2000 ; cokl and virant - doberlet , 2003 ) and cercopis appears to signal by vibrating its wings while remaining stationary on a plant ( kehlmaier , 2000 ) .
these are the bugs that in the summer you see as a nymph on bushes surrounded by what looks like spit ( hence the name ) . this is the adult , quite boring looking and uninspiring at first glance , but this teeny insect has one of the fastest movements in the terrestrial animal kingdom . considering its small size a froghopper can move at 4 metres per second , and can jump 70 times there own length ! i tried to film the jump on my sony avchd camcorder , but even after slowing the footage down to a fraction of its speed the jump is invisible . it looks like the insect just vanishes into thin air ! i would need a camera capable of shooting 1000 frames per second to show this behaviour in full slow mo .
from the start of the first visible movements of the hind legs to a froghopper becoming airborne takes no more than 0 . 875 ms in philaenus and a maximum of 1 . 5 ms in the heavier cercopis or aphrophora . in this short time , the body is accelerated to a take - off velocity of 4 . 7 m s - 1 in the best jumps by philaenus . in the best jumps by the different species , the applied acceleration ranged from 2267 - 5400 m s - 2 . philaenus experiences the equivalent of 550 g at take - off and the others from 231 - 428 g . the best jumps by philaenus require an energy output of 136 μj , a power output of 155 mw and exert a force of 66 mn . these forces and accelerations generated in jumping could not be produced by direct contractions of the muscles and indicate that muscular force must be generated in advance of the movement , energy stored and then released rapidly .
the head of froghoppers is flattened dorso - ventrally and has short antennae . its dorsal cuticle , and that of the prothorax , has many small indentations and its ventral cuticle is ribbed . the mouthparts point backwards and in aphrophora extend to the coxae of the hind legs . the folded fore wings cover the body , extend beyond the abdomen posteriorly and cover most of the hind legs when viewed from the side . the five species of froghopper analysed have a tenfold range of body mass , from 3 . 2±0 . 08 mg ( n = 7 ) in neophilaenus to 32 . 9±1 . 0 mg ( n = 16 ) in cercopis ( table 1 ) . their body lengths have a 2 . 5 fold range from 4 . 0±0 . 03 mm ( n = 7 ) in neophilaenus to 9 . 8±0 . 24 mm ( n = 23 ) in aphrophora . philaenus is toward the middle of this range with a body mass of 12 . 3±0 . 41 mg ( n = 34 ) and a body length of 6 . 1±0 . 08 mm .
graphs of leg and body movements during a jump by philaenus captured at 8000 s - 1 . ( a ) five points on the body ( see cartoon inset ) are plotted against time . take - off is indicated by the right arrow and vertical yellow bar . the first movement of a hind leg occurred 0 . 875 ms before take - off ( left arrow and yellow bar ) . the tarsi of the front and middle legs left the ground 0 . 5 ms before take - off ( middle arrow and yellow bar ) . velocity , measured as the movement of the centre of an ellipse representing the overall shape of the body , is plotted as a two - point average of successive frames ( blue line ) . ( b ) sequential movements of the five points on the body as the insect moved through the field of view of the stationary camera , superimposed on an image of the froghopper in its starting position . the black arrowheads and the linking black lines show the position of these five points at take - off . the corresponding positions of these points at different times during the jump can be read frame - by - frame from these positions at take - off .
have you noticed spit on your plants ? did you immediately think it was one of your kids or your spouse who did that ? before you go blaming your kids or partner , check your plants for spittlebugs first .
spittlebug drinks about 300 times its body weight in plant fluids in one hour ' s time . as a result of all the drinking , they produce a lot of waste , and that’s what causes all the spit on your plants .
because of all the spit on your plants , you probably want to get rid of these spittlebugs , but spit aside , spittlebugs can also harm your precious plants ! they not only will feed on your plants , but your plants may undergo stunted development and can also lose some of its vitality .
but don ' t panic just yet ! after some thorough research and several readings , we’ve chosen 7 efficient ways to help you get rid of these nasty bugs .
look around your garden and keep your eyes peeled for spittlebug patches . when you find them , use your hand to physically remove them off of your plant . if you don ' t want to touch them , you can knock them off by spraying water directly on the spittlebug patch . this is one of the easiest methods of how to get rid of spittlebugs ; however , i would only recommend doing this for light and easily accessible infestations only .
another option that is becoming popular nowadays is using a bug zapper . a bug zapper is an insect control system , also called an electrocutor trap device , which kills bugs , mosquitoes , and other flying insects through electrical discharge . although using a bug zapper offers an easy way of controlling pests in your garden , including spittlebugs , this method is only suitable to mild insect infestation . for severe infestations , you already need the help of insect - killer chemicals .
spittlebug eggs will form in and around garden debris and other similar areas . you need to clean up your garden now and then to get rid of old plant matter . cleaning up your garden is another method of how to get rid of spittlebugs .
with religious cleaning , you’ll get rid of the eggs and will , thereby limit , the number of spittlebugs that will hatch .
row covers are made of lightweight fabric or plastic and can be used to protect your crops from spittlebugs and other pests . they are an effective and cheap method to get rid of spittlebugs .
unlike plastic row covers , fabric row covers have tiny holes in them which allow the rain to come in and heat to go out . i would definitely recommend the fabric variety over the plastic ones .
although there are a lot of commercial pesticide sprays available on the market , these are very harmful to you and your plants .
pesticide , when ingested or inhaled , is toxic and very hazardous to your health . similarly , putting these chemicals on your plants would get rid of the pests but will change your plants and taint the flowers and fruits .
i would recommend making a homemade pesticide spray as the way to go on how to get rid of spittlebugs .
i would suggest using garlic or something spicy as your base for your organic homemade pesticide . you can even mix garlic and peppers with water to make it twice as effective .
the spittlebug is usually a bright yellow color and tends to blend in with your leaves . [ via : flickr . com ]
cover your nose and mouth with the face mask to protect your airways from the strong - smelling fumes of the pepper and garlic .
pour 1 cup of water in the blender along with the garlic cloves and the peppers . add the cayenne pepper and blend this mixture on high until the mixture is pureed .
using the cheesecloth or coffee filter , strain the mixture into the large jar .
add the dish detergent or the castile soap little by little . gradually stir it completely in using the wooden spoon .
place the lid on the jar , then let it sit in a cool , dark place for 24 to 48 hours .
first , you ' ll want to wipe all the spit off of your plants then spray away . be sure to test your pesticide on a small portion of your plant to make sure that you don ' t do any serious harm to it .
also , only do this on gloomy and rainy days because your spicy pesticide could burn your plant and kill it .
praying mantises tend to prey on most insects and pests . you could try ordering a few and releasing them onto your pest - laden plants and monitor the results after a week .
this method is a more drastic means regarding how to get rid of spittlebugs and only try this when the others have failed .
plant - based essential oils are a great way to deter spittlebug feeding patterns and can help disrupt their normal activities . i would recommend trying neem oil or any citrus - based oil such as lemon or orange oil to control and prevent spittlebug infestation .
there are a lot of organic insecticidal soaps available in the market . these insecticidal soaps help control and rid your plants of pests like spittlebugs .
they contain potassium salts of fatty acids which can break down the pests ' outer shells and cause them to become dehydrated and lose body fluids .
spittlebugs are really a nuisance in any garden . not only do they spit on your plants , they will harm your plants too . don’t let spittlebugs ruin your plants ! plan accordingly and follow the 7 tips and tricks above detailing how to get rid of spittlebugs .
please let me know if you have any other comments or suggestions or your own tips and tricks for getting rid of spittlebugs . i’d love to hear your thoughts !
hi there ! i’m lucy , and i’m a self - confessed garden fanatic . gardening has always been a passion of mine and will always be my favorite pastime . now that i am married and have one adorable son , i have the time to write and share my personal experiences with other garden enthusiasts like me .
save my name , email , and website in this browser for the next time i comment .
hi everyone ! i’m glad you found your way to my gardening blog . i’m lucy m . clark . i started gardening sometime in the early 2006 . back then , i was a total gardening neophyte . i was living in florida , i had my own little yard , and i knew that i wanted to have a lush and beautiful garden .
sadly , i had no idea what i was doing . with no green thumb and no experience with gardening at all , i really struggled . my yard was in poor shape and a lot of my plants didn’t make it . however , i didn’t give up . i knew that i wanted to have my own garden and with enough patience and dedication , i could develop my own green thumb and have my dream garden !
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in the best jumps by philaenus , take - off occurs within 0 . 875 ms of the start of movements of the hind legs at a peak velocity of 4 . 7 m s - 1 and involves an acceleration of 5400 m s - 2 , equivalent to 550 times gravity . this jumping performance requires an energy output of 136 μj , a power output of 155 mw and exerts a force of 66 mn .
insects have evolved many different mechanisms for jumping so that they may increase the speed of their locomotion , launch themselves into flight , or escape rapidly from a potential predator . the repeatable nature of these movements has enabled detailed analyses of the underlying neuronal mechanisms ( burrows , 1996 ) and determination of the mechanical and muscular solutions to these extreme locomotory demands . click beetles ( elateridae ) jack - knife a joint in their thorax ( evans , 1972 ; evans , 1973 ) , bristletails ( archaeognatha ) ( evans , 1975 ) , springtails ( collembola ) ( brackenbury and hunt , 1993 ) and the larvae of some flies ( maitland , 1992 ) use movements of their abdomens . particular ants ( baroni et al . , 1994 ; tautz et al . , 1994 ) and the stick insect sipyloidea sp . ( burrows and morris , 2002 ) combine forward movements of their abdomens with movements of their legs .
five species of froghoppers were analysed : aphrophora alni ( fallén 1805 ) , cercopis vulnerata ( rossi 1807 ) , lepyronia coleoptrata ( linnaeus 1758 ) , philaenus spumarius ( linnaeus 1758 ) , and neophilaenus exclamationis ( thunberg 1784 ) . neophilaenus were collected near wells - next - the - sea in norfolk , uk and lepyronia from the nanus region of slovenia and near ljubljana . the other species were collected near wells - next - the - sea and around cambridge , uk . observations on live insects were made on the same day of collection , or after they had been in the laboratory for no more than a few days feeding on live chrysanthemum plants .
sequential images of jumps were captured at rates of 1000 or 2000 s - 1 with a high speed camera ( redlake imaging , san diego , ca , usa ) and associated computer , or at 4000 - 8000 s - 1 with a photron fastcam 512 or 1024pci camera [ photron ( europe ) ltd , marlow , bucks . , uk ] and with exposure times of 0 . 05 - 0 . 25 ms . spontaneous jumps , or jumps encouraged by delicate mechanical stimulation with a fine paintbrush or a 100 μm silver wire , were performed in a chamber of optical quality glass 80 mm wide , 80 mm tall and 25 mm deep with a floor of high density foam . selected image files were analysed with motionscope camera software ( redlake imaging ) or with canvas ( acd systems of america ) . jumps were aligned by designating the point of take - off as time t = 0 ms .
drawing of the anterior part of philaenus , viewed from the side , to show the orientation of the proximal parts of its three pairs of legs . each leg is shown in its most anterior position ( black ) and in its most posterior position ( grey ) . the pivots of the coxae with the thorax are indicated by black dots and vertical arrows . the plane of movement is not orthogonal to the plane of the drawing .
higher temporal resolution of the movements of a hind leg of a restrained aphrophora was obtained by gluing a 0 . 2 mm disc of reflective tape to a hind femur close to the femoro - tibial joint . a modified single lens reflex camera with a concentric light around the lens was focussed on the disc and the light it reflected was captured by a photocell in the film plane of the camera ( hedwig , 2000 ) . this method recorded the movement of the femur and was combined with sequential images of the hind legs captured by a high speed camera .
seventy nine jumps by 19 aphrophora , 92 jumps by 19 philaenus , 47 jumps by 13 cercopis , 8 jumps by 5 neophilaenus and 16 jumps by 4 lepyronia were captured and analysed . data are given as means ± standard error of the mean ( s . e . m . ) . temperatures ranged from 24 - 30°c .
sequential images of a jump by philaenus captured at 7500 s - 1 and with an exposure time for each of 0 . 05 ms . the images are arranged vertically in two columns and are timed from the image at take - off ( 0 ms ) . the first movements of the right hind leg ( white arrow ) occurred 1 . 04 ms before take - off .
the hind legs are only just over half the length of the body , ranging from 52 . 3±1 . 24 % ( n = 23 ) of body length in aphrophora to 66 % in philaenus and neophilaenus ( table 1 ) . in all species the front and middle legs are of similar length , but the hind legs are about one and half times longer so that the ratio of leg lengths ranges from 1 ( front ) : 1 ( middle ) : 1 . 4 - 1 . 6 ( hind legs ) in the different species . the increased length of a hind leg is due to its longer tibia . by contrast , the femur of a hind leg is the same length and shape as those of the other legs . the mass of the two hind legs of aphrophora , including the trochanter and all the more distal segments , represents only 2 . 0±0 . 11 % ( n = 7 ) of the total body mass .
the coxae of the three pairs of legs articulate with the thorax at different angles ( fig . 1 ) . in its most forward position the coxa of a hind leg subtends an angle of 155° to the longitudinal axis of the body and rotates , as determined by imposed movements , backwards and upwards in one plane about its paired pivots by only a further 20 - 25° . movements of segments distal to the coxa are in this plane . by contrast , in their most forward positions the coxae of the front and middle legs subtend angles of 80 - 90° and can rotate backwards through an angle of about 40° , or almost twice the range of a hind leg .
the same rapid movements of the hind legs propelled jumping by all species but the following analysis focuses on philaenus , with information from other species illustrating particular features .
in preparation for a jump from a horizontal surface , the front of the body was raised or lowered by movements of the front and middle legs to give a mean attitude of the body relative to the ground at take - off of 28±1 . 9° ( n = 20 ) . after adjustment of the body attitude was complete , the hind legs then remained still for 1 - 2 s with only the distal tips of their tarsi in contact with the ground . a rapid and simultaneous depression of both hind legs then powered an explosive take - off . no differences could be detected in the timing of the movements of the two hind legs and both left the ground at the same time .
the first movement of a hind leg in a jump was a downward and backward thrust of the trochanter and femur ( their individual movements cannot be distinguished in these images viewed from the side ) which , as transmitted through the tibia , forced the whole ventral surface of the tarsus to the ground ( fig . 2 , fig . 3a ) . images captured at 8000 s - 1 showed that this first movement of a hind leg occurred only 0 . 875 ms ( 7 frames ) before the insect became airborne . the force from the continuing backwards movement of the hind legs began to lift the body because their tarsi were now directly applied to the ground ( fig . 2 , fig . 3a , b ) . the body continued to be raised as the hind femora were further depressed and the hind tibiae were extended so that the tarsi of the front and middle legs were raised from the ground before take - off . the velocity of the insect followed these movements of the legs . the first surge in velocity corresponded to the initial movement of the femur ( fig . 3a ) and after a short pause of 0 . 25 ms was followed by a rapid acceleration to a peak velocity of 4 . 7 m s - 1 at take - off .
jump by aphrophora viewed ventrally and captured at 5000 s - 1 with an exposure time of 0 . 05 ms . ( a ) sequence of four images from the jump . ( b ) drawings to show the joint positions of the hind legs before ( - 0 . 4 ms , fully levated ) and after ( 0 ms , fully depressed ) their rapid movements .
the same sequence of movements of the joints of a hind leg were also seen in philaenus jumping from a horizontal position toward the camera and therefore moving out of its focal plane . ( fig . 5a - c ) . the first movement of a hind leg was a downward movement of the femur resulting from a depression of the trochanter about the coxa , accompanied by an extension of the tibia . with the tarsus pushed fully to the ground , further depression of the femur and extension of the tibia resulted in an upward movement of the body . at take - off the coxo - trochanteral joint had been depressed through its full range at angular velocities of 75 500 deg . s - 1 and the femoro - tibial joint extended at an angular velocity of 105 000 deg . s - 1 .
( a ) sequential images captured at 5000 s - 1 and with an exposure of 0 . 05 ms of philaenus jumping toward and to the right of the camera to show the leg movements . movements of the right hind femur are indicated by the arrows . ( b ) graphs of changes in the angle between the femur and the longitudinal axis of the body and of the femoro - tibial joint ( see inset drawings ) in a jump by another philaenus captured at 4000 s - 1 . ( c ) movements of four points on the body ( see cartoon ) and of the angular changes of the femur and tibia ( coloured lines ) . the changes in the femoro - tibial angle at the times indicated ( ms ) are shown in detail on the right .
hind leg movements of a restrained aphrophora recorded simultaneously by a camera capturing images at 1000 s - 1 and with an exposure of 0 . 25 ms and by a photoelectric device ( see materials and methods ) . ( a ) two sequential images , the first showing the hind legs fully levated before the attempted jump and the second after the rapid movement . the inset drawings show the position of the hind legs in these two frames . note the small piece of reflective tape on the hind femur . the outputs of the photoelectric device during six jumps were captured at a sampling rate of 45 khz and low - pass filtered at 2 khz . one trace in blue shows the unfiltered recording . the leg movements were complete in 0 . 3 ms . ( b ) seven attempted jumps by a second aphrophora show that the movement was again complete in 0 . 3 ms .
further detail of the joint movements was obtained by fixing aphrophora ventral surface uppermost in plasticene™ with the hind legs free to move ( fig . 6 ) . rapid and simultaneous movements of both hind legs occasionally occurred spontaneously or could be evoked by gently tickling hairs on the abdomen with a fine paintbrush . no differences in the form of these attempted jump movements could be discerned compared with those in free jumping . they were , however , much faster and were completed in 0 . 3 ms because they did not lift the mass of the body . the key movement was again a simultaneous depression of both trochantera about the coxae which occurred at 267 000 deg . s - 1 , almost three times faster than in a real jump . the speed of these movements was consistent in 6 attempted jumps by one aphrophora and in 7 by a second ( fig . 6a , b ) .
in the smallest of the froghoppers , neophilaenus , take - off was also achieved within 1 ms of the first movements of the hind legs ( fig . 7a , b ) . the first and key movements of the hind legs were again a rapid depression of the trochanter , with an accompanying extension of the tibia . before take - off in some jumps , the tarsi of the front and middle legs had already lost contact with the ground ( fig . 7b ) .
in the heaviest of the froghoppers , cercopis , the body was accelerated for a longer period to achieve take - off , with the movements of the hind legs beginning 1 . 5 ms before take - off ( fig . 8a , b ) . the whole jumping sequence began with the front and middle legs adjusting the attitude of the body , which , in this example was only 16° . both front and middle pairs of legs were again off the ground before take - off ( fig . 8b , c ) . movements of the hind legs led to the head being raised while the posterior of the body was lowered , giving a take - off angle of 45° despite the initial shallow body attitude .
in some jumps when lepyronia took off almost vertically the middle legs were already off the ground and the front legs were fully depressed and extended even before the first movements of the hind legs began ( fig . 9 ) . at 1 ms before take - off , the front and middle legs were clear of the ground but the take - off velocity of 4 . 0 m s - 1 was , nevertheless , as great as that achieved at take - off angles closer to the mean of 45° when the front and middle legs remained in contact with the ground for a longer period .
images from two jumps by neophilaenus captured at 2000 s - 1 with an exposure of 0 . 25 s . ( a ) a jump in which the take - off occurred within 1 ms of the first movements of the hind legs : body angle , 36° ; take - off angle , 55° ; take - off velocity , 4 . 2m s - 1 . ( b ) a jump toward and to the right of the camera in which the body was raised by the front and middle legs to assume a higher take - off angle : body angle , 50° ; take - off angle , 72° ; take - off velocity , 4 . 0 m s - 1 ; body mass , 3 . 2 mg .
philaenus had a mean take - off angle of 46 . 8±2 . 0° ( range 18° to 90° , n = 50 ) and a mode of 45° ( fig . 10a ) . in the first few milliseconds after take - off the insect typically maintained a stable orientation , and in many jumps this continued until a landing feet - first on a vertical or horizontal surface . in other jumps , however , the body rotated about its long or transverse axes and occasionally about both axes ( fig . 10b ) . in the example shown , philaenus spun through four complete cycles during the first 50 ms after take - off . in a second jump , the abdomen started to rotate forward about the transverse axis 10 ms after take - off so that it rather than the head pointed forwards . in a third jump , the body began to rotate about its long axis after 10 ms and after 19 ms had rotated by 180° so that the legs were pointed upwards . the rotation was completed 28 ms after take - off and then the next cycle of rotation began . in a fourth jump , the body first started to rotate about its long axis and then some 5 ms later also began to rotate about its transverse axis .
in all species the wings remained folded during take - off , so that the movement was a pure jump powered by the hind legs and not assisted by active wing movements . occasionally , however , the wings were opened after take - off , and flapping flight was assumed though this did not always lead to sustained flight or even to maintaining the height attained by the initial jump ( fig . 11 ) .
jump by cercopis . ( a ) sequential frames from the jump viewed from the side and captured at 2000 s - 1 with an exposure of 0 . 25 ms . ( b ) graph of the movements of six points on the body ( see cartoon inset ) during this jump . ( c ) sequential movements of the same six points superimposed on an image of cercopis in its starting position to show their vertical and horizontal displacement . the yellow arrows show the direction of the initial movements of the femoro - tibial joint . body angle at take - off , 16° ; take - off angle , 45° ; take - off velocity , 3 . 8m s - 1 ; body mass , 41 . 9 mg .
the energy required to achieve this performance depends on body mass . in the heavier species such as cercopis the best jumps required 238μ j but in the much lighter neophilaenus this fell to 28 μj ; philaenus required 136 μj . the power output in a jump depends on the time during which the energy is expended . in the 0 . 875 ms that philaenus took to accelerate its body the power output was thus 155 mw . the force exerted during the best jumps by philaenus was 66 mn . for the heavier cercopis the force was highest at 83 mn and for the lighter neophilaenus was lowest at 13 mn .
jump by lepyronia . ( a ) two columns of sequential images from a jump captured at 4000 s - 1 and with an exposure of 0 . 25 ms . at the start , the body was raised at an angle of 61° to the ground so that only the tips of the tarsi of the front and middle legs were in contact with the ground . ( b ) movements of five points on the body ( see image in c ) against time . ( c ) movements of the same body points to show their vertical and horizontal displacement . the black curved arrows show the direction of the initial movements of the femoro - tibial joint . body angle at take - off , 61° ; take - off angle , 90° ; take - off velocity , 4 . 0 m s - 1 ; body mass , 17 mg ; temperature , 36°c .
in a laboratory chamber at a temperature of 25°c and in still air , the average height jumped by philaenus was 428±26 mm ( n = 17 insects ) with the highest jumps reaching 700 mm , or 115 times its body length . none of the other species bettered these performances ; for example , in the same conditions aphrophora reached an average height of 263±20 mm ( n = 13 ) . in a particular individual , jumping performance declined with increasing attempts to encourage jumping with the consequence that averaged values are likely to have underestimated the true jumping performance of these insects . the best indication of ability came by taking the maximal performance of particular individuals , which under laboratory conditions and temperatures may still be an underestimate .
the orientation of the hind legs , and their key role in powering jumping , raised the question of whether this compromised their ability to contribute to walking . the striking feature of horizontal walking was that the hind legs did not show rhythmic movements in the walking pattern and were not sequentially placed on the ground and then lifted ( fig . 12a ) . instead they were held in the cocked position with the trochantera fully levated about the coxae so that the tarsi did not contact the ground . the hind legs were , however , used when climbing on a vertical surface on which there was limited traction ( fig . 12b ) . they moved rhythmically and were placed on the ground in time with the walking pattern so that they might therefore be expected to contribute thrust to the movement .
( a ) trajectories of five jumps by the same philaenus . take - off angles are the average over the first 10 ms after take - off . ( b ) rotation of the body during a single jump by philaenus . a fixed point on the head in the vertical or in the horizontal plane was plotted against time . the body spins about its longitudinal ( y axis ) and transverse ( x ) axis undergoing five cycles of rotation in the first 70 ms that it is airborne . images were captured at 1000 s - 1 ; body mass , 12 mg .
a jump in which aphrophora flapped its wings after take - off . the selected images captured at 1000 s - 1 and with an exposure of 0 . 25 ms are arranged in two columns . at take - off ( time 0 ms ) the wings were not opened . 5 ms later it started to lose height and 8 ms after take - off opened its hind wings and flapped them .
the main thrust for jumping is provided by the hind legs . any contribution from the front and middle legs is limited as they are often lifted from the ground before movements of the hind legs begin . their primary responsibilities are therefore to provide a stable platform and to set the angle of the body and the take - off trajectory , by raising or lowering the anterior part of the body . the critical movement of the hind legs in generating the thrust for a jump is the depression of the trochantera about the coxae . before take - off , the hind legs are levated forwards at the coxo - trochanteral joints so that that the femora are tucked between the thorax and the middle legs and are apposed to the lateral and ventral surfaces of the coxae . the tibiae are also flexed about the femora . by contrast , the front and middle tibiae are held in their most forward positions at angles of 80 - 90° to the longitudinal axis of the body . these critical actions of the hind legs in jumping are at the expense of their ability to contribute to the propulsion of the body in horizontal walking .
in terms of the height jumped then philaenus comes out on top . its average height jumped was 428 mm with the best jumps attaining heights of 700 mm , or 115 times its body length . by contrast , in the same conditions aphrophora reached an average height of only 263 mm , or 27 times its body length . distance and height achieved will be determined by take - off velocity , take - off angle and by the drag . all the froghoppers achieve high take - off velocities ranging from 3 . 4 to 4 . 7 m s - 1 and average take - off angles are close to 45° . drag will , however , be different because of the different body sizes and masses ( bennet - clark and alder , 1979 ) . the distance lost due to drag by philaenus is estimated to be about 25 % ( vogel , 2005 ) based on my data . the smaller neophilaenus would be expected to experience greater drag while the larger froghoppers should experience less .
in terms of velocity , acceleration and force relative to body mass generated at take - off , then philaenus again comes out on top . it accelerates its body in less than 1 ms to achieve an average velocity over the first 3 ms of the jump of 4 . 7 m s - 1 . both neophilaenus and lepyronia approach but never better these velocities at take - off , but the heavier aphrophora and cercopis both take longer ( 1 . 5 ms ) to accelerate their bodies and achieve lower velocities .
contribution of the hind legs of philaenus in walking . images were captured at 1000 s - 1 with an exposure of 0 . 5 ms . selected images , viewed ventrally , are shown at the times indicated . ( a ) horizontal walking . the middle and front legs were lifted in a sequence to perform a swing phase of similar duration ( thick black bars ) and contact the ground during a stance phase of variable duration ( thin blue bars ) . the hind legs did not move . ( b ) vertical walking in which the hind legs did contribute .
fleas have been considered the best jumpers amongst the insects , accelerating their body within 1 ms to a take - off velocity of 1 m s - 1 ( bennet - clark and lucey , 1967 ; rothschild et al . , 1975 ; rothschild et al . , 1972 ) . froghoppers produce a substantially better jumping performance . philaenus accelerates its body to a take - off velocity that is more than 4 . 7 times faster than a flea despite having a body mass that is 27 times greater and a body that is four times longer . once airborne , however , the flea is likely to have its jumping distance reduced by 80 % due to drag compared to the 25 % reduction experienced by philaenus ( vogel , 2005 ) . heavier orthopteran insects such as locusts ( schistocerca gregaria ) with a mass of 1 - 2 g take 20 - 30 ms to extend their hind legs and accelerate their body ( brown , 1967 ) to a take - off velocity of 3 m s - 1 ( bennet - clark , 1975 ) while prosarthria teretrirostris with a mass of 280 mg takes 30 ms of acceleration to achieve a take - off velocity of 2 . 5 m s - 1 ( burrows and wolf , 2002 ) . the jumping distance of these larger insects is likely to be curtailed by only some 6 % due to drag ( vogel , 2005 ) . if jumping performance is expressed as the force exerted relative to body mass , then froghoppers again outperform other insects and other jumping animals . the force that froghoppers exert at take - off is more than 400 times their body weight and is , therefore , much higher than in other jumpers such as the flea ( ∼135 times ) ( bennet - clark and lucey , 1967 ) , locust ( ∼8 ) ( bennet - clark , 1975 ) and humans ( ∼2 - 3 ) ( dowling and vamos , 1993 ) .
potential predators of froghoppers are many and include birds , solitary wasps that provision their nests with froghoppers , and predatory social wasps or flies . parasitoids such as pipunculidae attack the pre - adult stages which are unable to jump . a further major danger may be unwitting predation by grazing mammals . they share this danger with all the other insects that live or feed on vegetation , but a rapid and long jump out of harm ' s way becomes advantageous . it may be that froghoppers are vulnerable while airborne and thus need to minimise exposure time in the air by jumping rapidly . this assessment of the value of jumping , however , poses further questions .
the structural specialisations of the joints and the sequence of muscle actions that enable this remarkable jumping performance is analysed in two subsequent papers ( burrows , 2006 ; burrows , 2007 ) and further papers will explore the evolution of the particular jumping mechanisms in other families of these plant sucking bugs .
i thank my cambridge colleagues for their help in collecting these bugs , for their constructive suggestions during the course of this work , and for their comments on the manuscript . this work was initiated at the wells field study centre , wells - next - the - sea , norfolk , england during an undergraduate field course , and i am most grateful to the warden christine marshall for the use of these facilities . some experiments were also carried out at the department of entomology , national institute of biology , ljubljana , slovenia and i am most grateful to dr meta virant and her colleagues for their support .