This treehopper is an impressive thorn mimic. A few years ago I saw a set of thorns on the redbud and thought, “Wait a minute… that shouldn’t have thorns.” Sure enough, it was a cluster of thorn mimics. They are great jumpers, so it was pretty hard to catch one, even with the help of a net. They’d catapult into the leaves, never to be seen again. Worse yet was trying to photograph them. To get good macro shots I brought the netted specimen into the basement where I have a handy macro set up with a light tent.
In more recent years I haven’t seen as many. During an ice storm that particular tree was engulfed and severely damaged by a downed box elder tree. The following spring the redbud had all sorts of insect pests taking advantage of it. After almost five years it is finally looking healthy again and is starting to regain its shape.
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