PYROPS CLAVATA MIZUNUMAI

EMBEDDED IN CASTING RESIN

Pyrops clavatus ( A paler form which was described as a subspecies mizunumai ) is a species of true bug in the family Fulgoridae, in the genus Pyrops which are sometimes called "lanternflies". This species is found in parts of northern and northeastern India, Myanmar, northern Thailand, southern China and northern Vietnam.

The tip of the elongated head capsule is spheroidal, shiny and chestnut in colour while the remainder of the process is black with fine white spotting. The forewing has a variable patterning of black, grey and white. The hindwing is purplish white with the apical half black.

Specimens have been obtained along the Himalayas west to Mussoorie but more often in Assam, Sikkim, Shillong and the Khasi Hills.

A planthopper is any insect in the infraorder Fulgoromorpha in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha and exceeding 12,500 described species worldwide. The name comes from their remarkable resemblance to leaves and other plants of their environment and from the fact that they often hop for quick transportation in a similar way to that of grasshoppers. However, planthoppers generally walk very slowly so as not to attract attention. Distributed worldwide, all members of this group are plant-feeders, though surprisingly few are considered pests. The infraorder contains only a single superfamily, Fulgoroidea. Fulgoroids are most reliably distinguished from the other Auchenorrhyncha by two features; the bifurcate - Y - shaped anal vein in the forewing, and the thickened, three-segmented antennae, with a generally round or egg-shaped second segment (pedicel) that bears a fine filamentous arista.

Fulgoroid nymphs also possess a biological gear mechanism at the base of the hind legs, which keeps the legs in synchrony when the insects jump. The gears, not present in the adults, were known for decades before the recent description of their function.