What is it?

[Janel]

Hi there you budding entomologists. I can't quite figure this little group out! They stick together peacefully, milling about like a herd of gentle four-legged animals. I did not see them fly. The closest I can come by looks in my insect handbooks (have not taken time for Google), is flying aphids (seems too big) or related to cricket/katydid family (head is similar but not the rest). I've not seen this sort of winged insect before. Found in the morning on a gray and mild day.

 

What is it?

 

 

[Jeff Larsen]

Hi Janel,

 

I'll try this one...

 

From the look of the picture it looks like piercing/sucking mouthparts, so I would say a member of the aphid family.

 

Insect order: Homoptera [homo + ptera = same + wings]

 

Common name: aphids, plant lice, cicadas, scale insects, whiteflies, mealybugs, leafhoppers, treehoppers, froghoppers, spittle bugs, lanternflies, planthoppers, psyllids.

 

Gradual life cycle: egg, nymph (some born live), adult (some wingless).

 

Mouthparts: piercing-sucking

 

Food: plant cells or sap

 

Numbers: 7,500 species in North America; 700 in Minnesota.

 

Characteristic features: often under 1/8th inch long (cicadas over 1 ½ inches), beaked with oblong with wings, when present, fold roof-like over back, all of front wing of same texture; scale insects and mealybugs either elliptical, round, or oyster-shell shaped, often with “cottony†wax filaments or secretions.

 

Special features: many produce sticky and sweet honeydew, some used to make dyes and shellac, many can hop, scale insects hidden under secreted wax covering, cicadas produce high, tinny buzz.

 

Common encounters: houseplants, garden plants, especially growing plants and seedlings.

 

 

But I would defer to someone with more experience than I.

 

Jeff