Portrait of a psyllid nymph on my scaly finger skin. Woodgate, Qld.
Dolichoderus ant tends her little lerp factory on a gum leaf. There is a clutch of tiny orange eggs directly under the ant. Girraween NP, Qld.
Tiny psyllid nymph (the orange blob) on a gum leaf surrounded by 'giant' Doli ants tending lerps. Girraween, Qld.
A delicate shell shaped basket lerp on a gum leaf. The nymph seems to be dead and parasitised. Minden, Qld.
A delicate shell shaped basket lerp on a gum leaf. The nymph is the large whitish shape out of focus bottom left. The thing centre right seems to be shed skin from an earlier instar. Minden, Qld.
A delicate shell shaped basket lerp on a gum leaf. The nymph seems to be dead and parasitised. Minden, Qld.
Bunched up for warmth on a winter day. Laidley, Qld.
Meat ants tend to a brood of jumping plant lice, collecting honeydew and keeping them safe. Laidley, Qld.
Psyllid adult, centre, surrounded by nymphs and an attendant Iridomyrmex ant. Bottom left are psyllid eggs. Laidley, Qld.
This brood of jumping plant lice (Psyllidae) do not build lerps and cluster together on leaves. Laidley, Qld.
Fancy some fungus? Laidley, Qld.
Psyllid seems to have been parasitised and is now a neat puparium. Moggill, Qld.
Psyllid seems to have been parasitised and is now a neat puparium. Moggill, Qld.
An intricately patterned lerp on a gum leaf covers a deceased psyllid nymph. Bellbowrie, Qld.
A collection of wooly jumping plant lice. Broadwater Creek, Qld.
Adult Psyllid in a wooly white protective jacket. Directly beneath the wing is a wingless nymph and below that an even younger nymph - the orange blob. Broadwater Creek, Qld.
Psyllid nymph in her wooly jacket exposes her butthole to expell some honeydew. A larger nymph on the left has a very big ball of honeydew. Broadwater Creek, Qld.
Flat nosed bug nymph feeds on a eucalypt leaf beside a lerp. Longreach, Qld.
One of these is definitely a psyllid - the orange nymph inside the finger-like lerp. The green shovel-nosed insect could be a psyllid or a planthopper. Longreach, Qld.
The orange psyllid nymph responsible for creating this finger-like lerp. Longreach, Qld.
These psyllids make long finger-like lerps on gum leaves. Longreach, Qld.
What they lack in size, they make up for in numbers. Jumping plant lice nymphs infest the new growth on a gum tree, leaving behind masses of honeydew. Kyogle, NSW.
Recently hatched plant lice nymphs feed on the underside of a gum leaf. This variety of psyllid doesn't produce lerp covers presumably because they hatch in enormous numbers. Kyogle, NSW.
Psyllid nymphs create a shell shaped lerp on this gum leaf. Wilston, Qld.
The exposed psyllid nymphs responsible for creating lerps that resemble scallop shells. Wilston, Qld.
Psyllid nymphs create a shell shaped lerp on this gum leaf. Wilston, Qld.
Wild and crazy psyllid nymph creates a wild and crazy lerp. Wilston, Qld.
Wild and crazy psyllid nymph creates a wild and crazy lerp. Wilston, Qld.
Jumping plant louse rests on the bark of a spotted gum. Wilston, Qld.
The shed skin (exuvia) from a psyllid nymph. Wilston, Qld.
A yellow and gree psyllid nymph on a badly damaged gum leaf. Wilston, Qld.