This “Troll-Haired” Bug Is One Of The Coolest-Looking Insects We’ve Ever Seen
The tiny unidentified creature, which is only 5 millimeters long, was found in the Suriname rainforest by ecologists who discovered 60 new species on a research expedition in 2012. This photo of the planthopper was featured on National Geographic. The bug’s wild “hairdo” is actually waxy secretions from its abdomen that are thought to be a defense mechanism to distract predators from its more vulnerable parts, according to conservation biologist Trond Larsen. “It could be that they fool a predator into attacking the wrong part of the insect, and the wax breaks off while the insect jumps to safety,” The rainforest in southern Suriname is “among the most remote and unexplored tracts of rainforest left on the earth."