Lamnamkok NP, Chiang Rai, Thailand
Family : Fulgoridae
Subfamily : Sesiinae
Species : Pyrops candelaria
Distributed in various parts of south and southeast Asia including India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, southern China, and Taiwan. This attractive hemipteran bug is a species of planthopper that feeds on the sap of various trees but with a particular preference for the sweet sap of lychee and longan trees. Its long hollow proboscis (its red 'nose') is used to get into the tree bark to reach the sap. It also feeds on the fruit of the same trees.
Pyrops candelaria has two pair of wings. The first pair of wings are green with white and yellow spots, while the second ones are bright yellow and bordered in black. Females deposit their eggs into the host plant tissues via their ovipositor and nymphs are found developing alongside adults on the trees. Adults live for several weeks and are usually found sitting upright on the trunks of trees but sometimes up in the foliage. Despite their name, lantern bugs do not emit light.
Although they are fairly large insects they are not that easy to spot, despite their bright colours. The individual above is the first one I have ever seen during my many trips to Thailand. It's not my best pic but I was standing on a moving and rather precarious boulder to get high enough to get the shot. A high ISO was required as it was deep in the forest and quite dark.
All my insect pics are single, handheld shots of live insects in wild situations.
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