Bug Wiki
Bug Wiki / All bugs / True bugs and cicadas
Sticker of Camel treehopper
Bug card No. 0778 of 4,939

Camel treehopper

Smilia camelus
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasForests and woods6 legs

The camel treehopper is a little bug with a big hump on its back, like a camel. The hump is highest right behind its head. It sits on oak twigs and sips their sap.

Lives in
Eastern Canada and the eastern United States, in oak forests
Length
8 to 9 mm (0.31 to 0.35 in)
Top speed
about 1.1 km/h (0.68 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting people.
What does it eat?
It drinks sap from oak trees, like red oaks, water oaks and post oaks.
For real!Photo of Camel treehopper
Picture by Christina Butler from Georgia, United States. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Camel treehopper about 9 mm long (0.35 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailas long as 1.5 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 3.3 secondsmoves 34 times its own body length every second

How big is Camel treehopper compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The female's hump is taller than the male's.

2

The female is about 9 millimetres long and the male about 8 millimetres.

3

It is easiest to find in summer, when there are lots of them.

4

It feeds on many different kinds of oak trees.

you asked

Most asked questions about Camel treehopper

?Why is it called a camel treehopper?

Because it has a tall hump on its back, a bit like a camel.

?What does the camel treehopper eat?

It drinks the sap of oak trees.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Smilia camelus
Named by
Fabricius, 1803
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Membracidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Membracidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Smilia camelus (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 Christina Butler from Georgia, United States. CC BY 2.0, 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.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: True bugs and cicadas

Pharaoh cicadaTrue bugs and cicadasSpotted lanternflyTrue bugs and cicadasBrown marmorated stink bugTrue bugs and cicadasCochinealTrue bugs and cicadasBoxelder bugTrue bugs and cicadasWestern conifer seed bugTrue bugs and cicadas

Also at home here: Forests and woods

White-striped blackMothsJumping jack antAntsLobed oak gall waspWasps and hornetsSylvan jumping spiderSpidersLesser eucalyptus longhorn beetleBeetlesLarge gray daggerMoths
Honey jarfor grown-ups