Lantern Bug

Pyrops candelaria — the lantern bug or lantern fly — is one of the most extraordinary true bugs in the world and one of about 700 species in family Fulgoridae (the lanternflies). The species is widespread across Southeast Asia (China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia) in tropical and subtropical forest. Adults are 60-90 mm long including the dramatic snout projection — the species' defining anatomical feature. The 'lantern' is a hollow upturned cylindrical protrusion of the front of the head, projecting forward and upward 25-40 mm beyond the rest of the head. The structure is hollow, lightweight, and its actual function has been the subject of 320+ years of debate. Hypotheses include: (1) DEFENSIVE MIMICRY — the snout combined with the wing pattern produces an overall silhouette resembling a small lizard or bird head, deterring predators; (2) SEXUAL SELECTION — the snout may be a sexually-selected display ornament; (3) HOST-TREE COMMUNICATION — vibration transmission through the snout may aid intraspecific communication on tree trunks; (4) CRYPTIC CAMOUFLAGE — the snout helps the body silhouette resemble epiphyte-encrusted twigs; (5) NULL — the snout may have no current adaptive function and be a vestigial trait. The species' COMMON NAME is the basis of one of the most persistent myths in entomology. In 1701, Maria Sibylla Merian — German-born scientific illustrator and one of the founders of modern entomological documentation — published her masterpiece Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, depicting and describing the lantern bug from her field studies in Suriname. She claimed the snout PRODUCED LIGHT IN THE DARK like a small lantern — possibly based on observation of bioluminescent fungi or other insects in the same vicinity, possibly based on misinterpretation of indigenous Surinamese accounts. The species DOES NOT bioluminesce, has never been documented producing light, and almost certainly cannot — but the 'lantern bug' name has persisted across 320+ years of subsequent scientific literature. The species' wings are dramatically patterned in iridescent green-blue-yellow-red transverse bands, making her one of the most photographed Asian insects in modern macro nature photography.