Today’s little leafhopper appeared when I was turning over leaves of Sycamore trees at Cardiff’s Cathays Cemetery. I initially thought it was Acericerus vittifrons but my record was redetermined to Acericerus heydenii by the national leafhopper recorder when he checked it.

Acericerus heydenii (previously known as Idiocerus heydenii) is a relatively recent arrival to Britain – it was first spotted in the south of England in 2010, probably having hitched a ride on a ferry across the Channel, or on a train through the Eurotunnel, from somewhere in Europe. Judging by the records on the Welsh national biodiversity database, it took about nine years to make its way across to Wales, where 15 specimens have now been recorded.

Please excuse the quality of my photos today. The camera I use for all my close-ups, an Olympus TG-5, does not deal well with low light (apparently, a known fault, which I did not know about when I bought it). This fault causes a purple cast in the centre of images, which I’ve tried not very successfully to correct. If you’re interested, you can see excellent images of today’s leafhopper on the True Hoppers of the Western Palearctic website.