What a stunning leafhopper this is, don’t you think?

This is the Rhododendron leafhopper (Graphocephala fennahi), an immigrant from the USA. After being introduced to Europe in the early 1900s, it somehow made its way across the Channel to the UK (probably on plant matter, as the UK is exceedingly lax with its border controls), and can now be found throughout much of southern Britain.

The only colony I know of is in Cardiff’s Bute Park and, though I’ve looked for it since my interest in leafhoppers has been reignited, I’ve not managed to find it during the past few summers. I’m not sure why that is – the weather perhaps, though last week the day was occasionally overcast, with frequent drizzle, and I still saw them. The wrong time of year? I don’t think so as I had checked when I had seen them in the past and gone looking around the same time – the adults are active from around July through to the middle of autumn. Whatever the reasons for not having found them in the past, suffice to say I was very pleased to find them last week, and spent quite a bit of time watching their antics.

If you’re wondering about that last image, it appears the leafhopper has suffered some damage to its wing cases, which probably means it can’t fly but it certainly had no trouble leaping away when I got a little too close looking at the vibrant orange of its abdomen.