Flat Brown Leafhopper
Size about 15mm. This is probably an unflighted nymph. It was found in an area with newly planted trees. In the field, I had wrongly assumed that it was a 'Females Only Leafhopper'. It was found while photographing sawfly larvae on the same tree. The animal was carefully trying not to be seen and stay still, but moving away from me when possible. When it realised that I had seen it, it ran - which is unusual. And to my absolute surprise it seemed to mimick the sawfly defense strategy. It wiggled its tail up and down, actually even while moving up the tree. The animal is extremely flat and wide. It has an elongated rounded snout, large lateral eyes. If you look carefully you can see a red dot in front of the eyes, maybe ocelli or another sensory organ. The body seems to be in three parts, head, body and tail that are segmented differently. While the overall look is brown, the body shows some black dots. Legs are tucked under body, front leg heavily bristled. I could not find a perfect match on species level but am confident it is in the tribe Ledrinae. I assume it is not often documented. Only having seen the nymph state it is hard to tell if it is described or not. I matched it to http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_leafhoppers/BrownFlatHeaded.htm (accessed 31/8/2017) but think it might be different. http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/leafhop/ledrinae/rubrini.htm (access the same day) was quite helpful and provides more information.
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