Gum Treehoppers - Subfamily Eurymelinae
This page contains pictures and information about Gum Tree hoppers that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Group of Gum Treehopper nymphs attended by ants
Once this group of Gum Treehopper species are classified as the family Eurymelidae. They are now classified as a subfamily of the Cicadellidae.
Many species in this family are brightly coloured. Their head is relatively wide and flat with ocelli in the front. They often stay in groups feeding on young stems of eucalypt. Some species are solitary. Nymph and adult feed by sucking the sap of the host tree.
Usually there are ants around them for their excretion of 'honey-dew', which is the excess sugar that the treehoppers do not need. The presence of ants discourage predators, this becomes a kind of protection from the ants. Unlike most other leafhopper nymphs, Eurymelini nymphs do not jump. They avoid predators by running around the twig or branch.
Sometimes there are the black mould around the treehoppers. This is an airborne fungal disease, sooty mould (Fumago vagans), which is often associated with the honeydew.
- Two-lined Gum Treehopper
- Eurymeloides bicincta, (Cicadellidae: Eurymelinae: Eurymelini), body length 8mm
- This Leafhopper was found during early summer in Karawatha Forest. A number of them were found on a small gum tree. They are all adults, black in colour with white lines on wings. Their eyes were orange in colour. More pictures and information please visit this page.
- Common Jassid, Gumtree Hopper
- Eurymela fenestrata (Cicadellidae: Eurymelinae: Eurymelini), adult body length 15mm
- The Leafhopper was brown and violet in colour under sunlight. There were some white spots on its wings. They are common on young gum trees. More pictures and information can be found on this page.
- Gum Treehopper
- ? sp., body length 6mm
- Picture taken in Karawatha Forest during mid summer.
- Hopper Nymph on Gum tree trunk
- ? sp., body length 8mm
- Pictures were taken in Karawatha Forest on early summer. Dr. Murray Fletcher sent us email and advised that this nymph looks like a member of the Eurymelinae.
- Reference:
- 1. Subfamily Eurymelinae, Tribe Eurymelini - Fletcher, M.J. and Larivière, M.-CC. (2001 and updates).
- 3. Forest Health Sheet Leafhoppers - By Charlma Phillips, Forest Health Scientist, ForestrySA , Revised June 1992.
