Eurymela fenestrata facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Eurymela fenestrata |
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| Later stage nymph instar of Eurymela fenestrata | |
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Eurymela
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E. fenestrata
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| Eurymela fenestrataa le Peletier & Serville, 1825
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Eurymela fenestrata, widely known as the common jassid, is a type of leafhopper. You can find these insects all over mainland Australia. Sometimes, people also call them the large gum treehopper.
Contents
What Does the Common Jassid Look Like?
The common jassid is a fairly large leafhopper. Adult jassids can grow to about 15 millimeters (or 0.6 inches) long. Their body shape is strong and wide at the front. It then tapers, or gets narrower, towards the back. Some people say their shape looks a bit like a bison!
Colors and Markings
The front part of their body, called the prothorax, is red. Their main body, the abdomen, is brown and a deep violet color. You might also notice several white patches on their wings. All of their legs are black. Young jassids, called nymphs, are reddish-brown with black markings.
How Does the Common Jassid Live?
Common jassids are insects that go through a special kind of growth. It's called incomplete metamorphosis. This means they don't have a pupa stage like butterflies. Instead, they hatch from an egg. Then they go through five stages as a young nymph. Finally, they become an adult.
Life Cycle and Food
Usually, there is only one new generation of common jassids each year. Like other leafhoppers, they get their food by sucking sap from plants. For the common jassid, their favorite plants are different types of Eucalyptus trees.
Sap is a very watery liquid. So, jassids need to drink a lot of it to get all the nutrients they need to grow. The extra liquid they don't use comes out as a sticky, sweet substance called honeydew. This honeydew can cause a black, powdery fungus called sooty mould to grow on the plants.
