15mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I’m still puzzling over this. Has anyone seen anything like this before? It’s certainly distinctive, but I can’t come up with any theories for what could have done this. It’s on the underside of a live leaf.
Updated: I’m adding a crop from the above photo (from the upper right, rotated a bit).
Crop
Maybe this will help. There’s a tiny tiny critter about one third of the way from the left, near the bottom. I suspect it’s unrelated, but maybe not. I’ve also been thinking that maybe the clumps perpendicular to the main leaf vein might be concealing some sort of hemipteran nymphs. But then what about the oval perimeter? Maybe that serves to discourage predators, like a sort of fence?
maybe it’s the remains of a cocoon or egg case that has hatched or dropped off. Just a thought.
Possibly, but the white stuff in the photo is actually fluffy, not just a mark left on the leaf.
Pingback: Scale Insects : Nature Closeups