''Umbonia spinosa'' is a species of

treehopper Treehoppers (more precisely typical treehoppers to distinguish them from the Aetalionidae) and thorn bugs are members of the family (biology), family Membracidae, a group of insects related to the cicadas and the leafhoppers. About 3,200 species ...

or thorn bug (family Membracidae) native to South America.

Morphology

''Umbonia spinosa'' can be distinguished from other members of its genus by the appearance of its elongated

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ea ...

, or dorsal horn. The dorsal horn is located between or just behind its humerals and they possess a short metopidium. The dorsal horn itself is straight and the base of the plate is yellow, testaceous or pale green, with red or yellow vittae (stripes) at each side, though sometimes ''U. spinosa'' can be characterized by black vittae. It also has an interesting egg survival technique, where “females dig the nest, ..during the nesting cycle”. The dorsal horn gradually tapers to a point from base to summit, similar to a thorn in appearance.

Distribution and diet

''Umbonia spinosa'' has been found in South and Central America, Mexico, and southern Florida. In general, they tend to reside in more subtropical environments. In Central America, they congregate on the branches of the Persian silk tree (''

Albizia julibrissin ''Albizia julibrissin'', the Persian silk tree, pink silk tree, or mimosa tree, is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae, native to southwestern Asia and eastern Asia. The genus is named after the Italian nobleman Filippo degli Albizzi, who i ...

'') for mating and overwintering, and are also found on the bean tree (''

Inga edulis ''Inga edulis'', known as ice-cream bean, ice-cream-bean, joaquiniquil, cuaniquil, guama or guaba, is a fruit native to South America. It is in the Mimosoideae, mimosoid tribe of the legume family Fabaceae. It is widely grown, especially by Indi ...

''). Female Umbonia spinosa uses those trees to lay their eggs in by making round holes in them. The trees are also used as a source of food, the ''Umbonia spinosa'' uses its mouth parts to ingest sap from the trees.

Relationship with humans

The juvenile form of ''Umbonia spinosa'' is historically considered

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

by the indigenous peoples of South America, while their spines are still soft after

molting In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...

References

External links

* Membracinae Hemiptera of South America {{Auchenorrhyncha-stub