What I found on a spiderwort leaf

As you heard last time, I photographed a few spiderwort (Tradescantia spp.) flowers alongside my house on March 6th. These plants have long but narrow leaves, on one of which I noticed something less than an inch in length:

Click for greater size and clarity.

Not knowing what it was, I turned to local aficionada Val Bugh, who identified it as “a batch of leafhopper eggs. From their size and look, I would guess they are one of the larger species… You can see the brochosomes (that white waxy stuff) that many leafhoppers use to cover their eggs, which is another clue.” Thanks, Val.

Back in the realm of botany, notice (especially if you click to enlarge) how much the spiderwort leaf looks like a textile. Thanks, macro lens.

I thought I’d close by linking to a post in which I showed a leafhopper, but when I searched I discovered I’ve never shown one. To remedy that, here’s a leafhopper* on a mesquite pod in northeast Austin on June 3, 2011. (It just dawned on me that that was one day before my first post on this blog.)

* Update: Steve Gingold has pointed out that the second picture shows a planthopper rather than a leafhopper. Oh, terminology.

© 2016 Steven Schwartzman