help me identify this odd bug

March 9, 2012 1:05 PM

a friend of mine is vacationing in central america, and saw this odd thing. he thinks it's a moth mimicking a gecko. any ideas?
posted by camdan to Science & Nature (5 answers total)

Best answer: Looks like this.
posted by logicpunk at 1:11 PM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: yup, that appears to be it
posted by camdan at 1:19 PM on March 9, 2012

I'd say your friend is right, and that it is, in fact, the second species (fulgora lampetis) discussed on the page linked by Logicpunk
posted by jamjam at 1:22 PM on March 9, 2012

It's a fulgorid bug, probably Fulgora laternaria, as in logicpunk's link. For quite some time naturalists have suspected that the hollow protuberance on the head is intended to mimic alligators or other dangerous reptiles. See E.B. Poulton, “The terrifying appearance of Laternaria (Fulgoridae) founded on the most prominent features of the alligator” [Wednesday, May 7, 1924], Transactions of the Entomological Society of London: Proceedings 1924 (1924-1925): xliii-xlix.

It's not a moth, but a true bug (with piercing, sucking mouthparts), related to the cicadas. In the 18th century, there was a belief that the creature glowed in the dark, due to a report by the German naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian. A low-res version of her illustration is available here.
posted by brianogilvie at 1:35 PM on March 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

I just want to draw the community's attention to this information from logicpunk's link:

In several countries, such as Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela, there exists the myth that if somebody is bitten by the machaca, he or she must have sex within 24 hours to prevent an otherwise incurable death. The insect is actually harmless to people.

Best made up myth ever
posted by telegraph at 1:44 PM on March 9, 2012 [32 favorites]