Sibovia pileata is an angular little jewel of a leafhopper, all turquoise and saffron lines. But this photo shows something strange and almost unique among leafhoppers. I caught this little guy in the act of ejecting a tiny droplet from his rear with more force and speed than makes sense for a creature only a few millimeters long. Leafhoppers don't have many defenses, but they do have this: a honeydew catapult.

Leafhoppers live on sugar water. They spend their lives tapping the phloem—the circulatory system of plants—and guzzling up plant juice like there is no tomorrow. Phloem sap is thin and extremely low in nitrogen, so leafhoppers must process enormous volumes of it to extract enough of that one critical nutrient. The result is constant overpressure in the gut. The solution? Fire the waste back out into the world at spectacular velocity.

Read the full story on Notes from the Road →