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Sticker of Red-eyed planthopper
Bug card No. 3562 of 4,939

Red-eyed planthopper

Lystra lanata
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasRainforests and jungles6 legs

The red-eyed planthopper is a striking little bug from the warm forests of South and Central America. Its wings are black with blue spots, and the sides of its head are red. It sits on trees and sips their juice.

Lives in
Brazil, the Guianas, Mexico and the French West Indies, in warm forests
Top speed
about 1 km/h (0.62 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It is a plant sipper and does not bite or sting people.
What does it eat?
It drinks the sap of plants. One tree it likes is called Simarouba amara.
For real!Photo of Red-eyed planthopper
Picture by Rosângela Souza. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

When the famous scientist Carl Linnaeus first described it, he thought it was a kind of cicada.

2

People have seen whole groups of them sitting together on the same tree.

3

It looks a lot like a close cousin, but on its wings the white part is only along one edge.

you asked

Most asked questions about Red-eyed planthopper

?Is the red-eyed planthopper dangerous?

No. It only drinks plant sap and does not hurt people.

?Where does the red-eyed planthopper live?

In warm parts of South America, Mexico and the French West Indies.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Lystra lanata
Named by
Linnaeus
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Fulgoridae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Fulgoridae
Lives on
South America, North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Lystra lanata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Rosângela Souza. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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