planthopper camouflaged against bark and stem

Size
Length: 5–10 mm, Weight: 0.05–0.1 g
Lifespan
1 years
Diet
Herbivorous. Feeds on plant sap using piercing-sucking mouthparts. Some species are highly colourful with bright red, blue, or yellow markings.
Habitat
Vines, shrubs, and garden plants. Winged wedges of the late summer garden, often seen in large groups on a single stem.
Range
Found throughout the North and South Islands in gardens, scrub, and forest edges. Most common in warm, lowland areas where host plants are abundant. The passionvine hopper is widespread in the North Island.
Endemism
Native
Main Threats
None. Native species are widespread and common. Some species are considered minor pests in vineyards and orchards where they excrete honeydew leading to sooty mould, but face no conservation threats.
Population
The most famous in New Zealand is the passionvine hopper. While it was introduced from Australia, it is now a permanent and iconic part of the Kiwi summer.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
Arranged along a green stem like a row of tiny, parked cars, this wedge-shaped wanderer of the New Zealand garden has moth-like, triangular wings often patterned with translucent windows. These hemipterans are specialised sap-suckers that utilise a piercing-sucking rostrum to tap into the vascular tissues of passionfruit vines, citrus, and native shrubs. Their most notable adult behaviour is a high-velocity flick, a rapid release of energy from the hind legs that launches the insect into the air with a distinct, audible clicking sound. That allows them to vanish into the foliage before a predator can orient its strike. The juvenile stages, or nymphs, are the famous fluffy bums of the New Zealand summer. They are tiny, lime-green insects featuring a dramatic, fan-like tail of white waxy filaments protruding from their posterior. These specialised tails serve as a brilliant mechanical defence. If an insectivorous bird or spider attempts to grasp the nymph, the brittle wax filaments break away instantly, leaving the predator with a mouthful of tasteless wax while the hopper escapes unharmed. This represents a state of lateral thinking in evolutionary design, where a break-away appendage and a high-tension jump combine to ensure survival during the high-energy peak of the garden season. Their presence signals summer vitality, indicating a landscape where the sap is flowing freely and the biological competition is at its most creative. While currently classified as not threatened, planthoppers (particularly the passionvine hopper) are a familiar part of the local invertebrate community. They are known for producing honeydew, a sugary secretion that can lead to the growth of sooty mould on leaves. Protecting their role in the ecosystem involves acknowledging the escape through deception that allows them to thrive in modified environments. They serve as a vital link in the food web, providing a seasonal protein source for various predatory insects and birds that have learned to navigate their waxy defences. To encounter a row of planthoppers as they shift in unison around a stem is to witness a survivor that has mastered the art of mechanical defence.