Planet Earth is full of weird and wonderful creatures , which is never more apparent than in the insect world . Some insects canfly on broomstick , are surprisinglygood thespian , and evenfling their peeto husband vigour . And then some , like this gator bug , just expect downright bizarre .
latterly , footage of a very unusual declamatory fly worm was engage by a military man live in the Amazon . On closer inspection , the critter turned out to be an alligator hemipteron , also phone a peanut - headed hemipteron ( Fulgora laternaria ) , a type of lanternfly .
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These epithet are slimly deceptive , though . The bump on the front of the insect is not the head at all but a bodily structure that is used in marauder defence . A closer look , and a bit of imagination when looking at the front of the dirt ball , reveals a fictitious lizard face in the structure that is used to deter other lizard from having a tasty snack on the lanternfly .
Both male and female lanternflies have this unusual “ peanut ” structure which comes in many different shape depending on the specie . This also gives wage hike to the name alligator bug , as some masses opine the false aspect resembles that of an alligator or cayman .
There is also some suggestion that the peanut bulge acts as a sound resonator , magnify the critters ' sounds through the forest , as they bump their hollow peanuts on tree body to make noises .
The condition “ lanternfly ” is also misleading as these louse have no light - creating abilities like fireflies orbioluminescence .
As you may see in the television , the gator bug is a pretty large insect and can measure around 10 centimeter ( 3.9 inches ) long . When the wings are capable the brute has a maximum wingspread of around 15 centimeters ( 5.9 inch ) . These wing feature false eye billet , anotherpredator defense technique .
This species is found in Central and South America across , Brazil , Honduras , Mexico , and Panama where they fee on flora sap . This contribute to another predator defense mechanism ; when threatened the microbe can free a foul - smelling chemical , produced by the resin the lanternfly consumes .
