| Latin Name | Observation Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Leptocentrus taurus | Sep 20, 2026 | Natore, Bangladesh |
Photography is not just about taking pictures for me, but also about discovering the strange wonders of nature hidden around us. Today, while looking at the young branches in the garden, I suddenly saw an insect with a very strange appearance. At first glance, it might seem like a small alien creature or a small bull! As soon as I saw this strangely shaped insect with a curved horn, I immediately took out my smartphone from my pocket. As you know, I don't have a dedicated camera or macro lens; this phone is my only hope. So, I tried to take a few macro shots of it by focusing as close as possible on the phone's camera. Let's find out some information about this strange and beautiful insect.
Scientific name:
This is basically a treehopper or a type of treehopper. Its common scientific name in the scientific world is Leptocentrus taurus. Due to the horn-like growth on their heads, they are sometimes called 'Cow bugs' or insects that look like cows.
Family and genus:
According to the classification of the animal kingdom, this beautiful insect is a member of the Membracidae family. In the scientific world, their genus or genus name is Leptocentrus.
Habitat and habitat:
They are quite common in various regions of Asia, Africa and Australia. They usually live in shrubs, forests and young branches of various types of trees. They are often seen sitting on the young tips of various wild trees, forest trees or orchards in our country.
Food:
These are mainly herbivorous insects. They live by sucking the sap of young branches, leaves or stems of trees. They have a special type of proboscis in their mouth, with which they can easily collect sap from the soft parts of the plant.
Reproduction:
They reproduce through eggs. The female insect lays eggs inside the young branches or leaf tissue of the plant. After the eggs hatch, the nymphs or babies emerge, they start feeding on the sap of the plant in groups and gradually change their shells to become full-fledged insects.
Benefits:
They have a specific role in the food chain or ecosystem of nature. They serve as one of the main foods for various types of birds, spiders and other large predatory insects, which helps maintain the balance of the ecosystem.
Disadvantages:
As such, they do not cause any direct harm to humans or the environment. However, when their numbers increase too much in gardens or croplands, they absorb a large amount of sap from the young branches of the plant. As a result, the young tips of the tree often become rough or dry, hindering the normal growth of the tree.
I learned about them from various sites including iNaturalist, Wikipedia and Google.
(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.)
| Camera Used | Samsung SM-G973F |
|---|---|
| F-Stop | F2.4 |
| ISO speed | ISO |
| Focal length | 26mm |
| Flash | No |
| Editing app | Lightroom |
| Photography | (Leptocentrus taurus) |
| Photographer |  @mshbd |
| Location | Natore, Bangladesh |
| Link to original community |
|---|
| https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/402268652 |
| Latitude | Longitude | Map Link |
|---|---|---|
| 24.3360 | 89.1134 | https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/24.3360/89.1134 |