I found a new leafhopper species last week but, despite it having quite distinctive markings, I have not been able to identify it exactly. This is because there are several that look very similar and, even knowing the tree or plant they are on (in this case, Poplar), doesn’t help. One needs to examine their genitals to figure these little leafhoppers out.

There are five species of Populicerus showing in the Welsh database (Populicerus confusus, P. populi, P. albicans, P. nitidissimus, and P. laminatus), only four of which have been recorded in Wales (the first four in my list) and, of those, the numbers, except for P. confusus (64) are in single digits. That is likely to be a reflection of the difficulty of identifying the species rather than the populations of these leafhoppers.

All five species have similar markings but three have different colouring. However, Populicerus populi and P. laminatus are so similar that they require more intimate examination – the creature I found, the leafhopper shown here, is one of these two.