Hi crayphish, I'm always a bit concerned when people talk about spraying with soap or botanical sprays like garlic or capsicum 'just in case'. The thing is, insecticidal soap and most botanical sprays don't distinguish between pests and the 'good' insects that control them. Even more unfortunately, in a lot of cases the 'good' insects are MORE susceptible to pesticides than the pests. I know there are some parasitic wasps (tiny wasps that lay their eggs in other insects, often the ones we consider pests, like aphids, whiteflies etc) - Aphidius and Encarsia species spring to mind - that are affected by insecticidal soap. The soap spray won't affect the leafminers, that's for sure, unless it has some extra property because of the mintiness, because the adult leafminer flies are long gone and the leafminer larvae are snug in their little burrow. I wonder if the leafminers even requires any action. It looks like a Liriomyza species, probably L. trifolii, which is considered a pest in commercial flower and celery crops, but fruiting crops like beans, tomatoes, cukes etc are rarely bothered. If you leave well enough alone the native parasitic wasps, Diglyphus species and the like, will probably come along and provide reasonable control for you. A bit of leaf damage won't hurt your plants and unless it's severe, it shouldn't affect yields either. Tracey

We have had these bugs nesting near our patio in a hanging "chime" for a few years now, that has horizontal metal tubes. They plug up the middle of the tube with grasses and close down the entrance so they can squeeze in- and plug it up completely in the winter. They seem to be a solitary insect- 1 bug per tube entrance- although we do have a few living in this chime. I too have seen them resting on trees- and vertical plants in the garden- and I believe the males are much smaller- shorter, thicker and more bronze/sheen black colored- who knew they were hard to find- maybe I should bottle one up and make a call next time I think I see what I think is a male- they do not appear to live long- I doubt I will see one again this year- although momma can be seen tending the nest early in the cooler morning temps in the hot weather. I believe they live longer than one year- as it sure seems to be the same creature we see every year for the last few years. They are frightening to witness- but we have never had any trouble with these bugs- they generally keep to themselves and have never shown any aggression- and actually seem to prefer privacy and solitude. Bonus that they like grubs! I was concerned they might be harming trees. I hope you can put your concerns to rest soon and maybe even appreciate them for their fearsomely odd appearance-

I thought when it goes through metamorphosis it would turn an orange color but these are black with yellowish/orange spots. Very tiny too. I've got ladybugs here but they are orange with the blackish spots. Julia

Thank you, I believe you're correct!! I saw it jump/hop so a Treehopper would make sense and after you gave me the name I looked at some pictures of various Treehoppers and saw one called the Keeled treehopper which I think looks similar to this one.