The wonders of nature

[JPMiers]

The other day I was outside on a bench and this small white fluff floated onto my lap. Upon closer inspection I was amazed to find that it was actually some sort of insect. It was very well camoflaged to look like a tiny white portion of fluff usually at the base of a feather. I watched it until it hopped off of my finger and floated, not flew, away. It just makes you wonder what else is out there that could easily be dismissed as something else.

Just thought i'd share my story, I wish I had a good enough camera to have taken pics. It was TINY.

 

[melanie5]

The only little critter I can think of that looks like this, is a tiny thing called Pseudococcus citri, English name mealybug. Looks like a tiny sheep with fluffy wool. eats plants, but usually lives in greenhouses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mealybug

 

[JPMiers]

He was more fluffy than spiny as those bugs look. I'm sure it's a different species than what I was able to find googling it. Very close though, deffinately on the right track. Also he wasn't as rounded, and he looked more like white stuff they make the eggs out of. Are those guys known to float around in the air?

 

[spydrhunter1]

Order: Homoptera, Family: Eriosomatidae, woolly aphids

 

[Andrew273]

I've seen them back when I lived in NJ. It was a while ago but I eventually ID'd them as some kind of aphid and judging by the name "wooly aphid" I'm willing to bet that's it.

 

[Galapoheros]

I didn't know some aphid might do that, but there are very many spider species that have spiderlings that will go to the top of something, stick their abdomen in the air, put out some webbing and parachute off to a new place before they get too big and heavy to move around very far. They have found baby spiders floating around waaaaaay up in the atmosphere. I've seen that fluffy webbing floating around and always thought it was webbing a spiderling had pulled together while it's traveling around but I've never heard anybody else say that's what it was. Could that thing in that floating ball been a baby jumping spider? If there's something else that does that, I haven't heard of it yet. What other arthropods without wings float around to relocate?

 

[melanie5]

Order: Homoptera, Family: Eriosomatidae, woolly aphids

What is an aphid? I have never heard of those. Are they related to the mealybug?

 

[spydrhunter1]

Same order of insects Homoptera: juice feeding insects with a proboscis near the back of the head.

 

[ArachnoBasement]

Has anyone been lucky enough to see a video clip (on discovery or nat geo for example) of an aphid reproducing??? It's the crazies thing. An aphid comes out of the mother's abdomen with it's legs all folded into it's body, right before it drops to the ground, all the legs open up, lands on it's feet, and takes off. And the mother just keeps producing and producing. Another interesting fact with aphids are that the off spring are born pregnant.


Here is a link to a video on you tube about it, however it's all in Thai. But around 1:50 is a clip of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZVSPjxNgPY

 

[Neuroticax]

Wolly phids, very interesting. Cute little creatures.

 

[auroborus]

this kinda reminds me of a bug ive seen now and then but always wondered what it was. It was pretty small, it has a blue body and like a white tuff of hair on its head, and its abdomen might have been whitish, i cant remember its been a while since ive seen one but they just fly around gracefully and up right so there head is up and lags and abdomen are down. Ive never seen more than one at a time, i always just called them fairies cause thats what they look like to me, lol.