Hopper Hunt

MarkB1 · Post by **MarkB1** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:20 am

Out in Eprapah NR I saw this fellow out of the corner of my eye. Unusually bold for a hopper to be out in the sun and he didn't do a zig zag roundabouts backward sidestep to get out from under the lens.

As they often do, at least here in Aus.

So I followed him around the forest floor until he had enough and with a single clicking sound was gone, just after the last shot here.

Full set here : Hopper hunt

lauriek · Post by **lauriek** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 9:07 am

Cute little froghopper! I've not seen one with big 'tails' like that...

Aynia · Post by **Aynia** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 11:56 am

I haven't seen anything like this before.

The middle photo is great... portrays his character.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:04 pm

Neat pictures!

Image 2, bottom right, it looks like the ends of the tails are feathered. Are they really, or is that an illusion?

--Rik

ChrisR · Post by **ChrisR** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:35 pm

RIk see second frame on the linked set.

Mark, OhMy.
How big is this thing?

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:05 pm

ChrisR wrote:RIk see second frame on the linked set.

Missed that -- thanks!

--Rik

MarkB1 · Post by **MarkB1** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:23 pm

Thanks for comments all.

Rik. Yes, feathered.

ChrisR. About 1cm body length, roughly.

#1 was shot at 420mm (35mm eq) with the Raynox 250 (+8 dioptre) on the FZ50. Can you work out the size from that or do you need the sensor size as well?

ChrisR · Post by **ChrisR** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:39 pm

"1cm" is fine! It's OZ, so I'm prepared to be surprised

On a trip fom Perth to Darwin, our driver screeched the bus to a halt to show us something "really exciting". We got our binoculars out and scoured the distant bush to find the alarmingly named Thorny Devil.
It was pretty exciting, but I didn't expect it to be smaller than my hand!

MarkB1 · Post by **MarkB1** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:14 am

ChrisR wrote:"1cm" is fine! It's OZ, so I'm prepared to be surprised

On a trip fom Perth to Darwin, our driver screeched the bus to a halt to show us something "really exciting". We got our binoculars out and scoured the distant bush to find the alarmingly named Thorny Devil.
It was pretty exciting, but I didn't expect it to be smaller than my hand!

There's a 300 metre hill nearby, it's called Mt. something.

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:55 pm

Lovely little thing!

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 2:18 am

Hoppers are something I find to be beautiful and oftentimes fascinating, though they are considered a pest, at least here from what I have read, transmitting plant viruses, along with aphids and maybe others, with their piercing rostrum or beak. This one is a first for me also, as I have never seen one with tail appendages like those shown here in your photo. Really a great set of shots. The "feathered" ends on the tails and the "flattened nose" are a curiosity.

MarkB1 · Post by **MarkB1** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 2:53 am

Thanks Larry

Ken. I wonder what doesn't 'transmit' something detrimental to something else. We take away the habitat then point the finger when the 'pests' invade our gardens and farms of unsustainable varieties supported with unsustainable practises. And it's coming back to us.

We take the honey from the bee and feed it sugar then wonder why they are dying off around the planet. If we fed people like this it wouldn't be long before we had a law against it, because it is unsustainable.

Anyway. There are many kinds of weird hopper here. I am not far from where remnant rainforest meets coastal wetland forest and whenever I go there I find some form of strange and wonderful creature. Amazing nature.