It was a quick trick done “with much difficulty, as they jump away very fast,” said Larsen, of Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program (RAP).

That’s also why Larsen wasn’t able to collect a specimen of the tufted bug, which is needed to compare it to other insects and figure out if it’s a known species.

Another thing that makes identification tough is that the planthopper was in the nymph stage of development, which means that it looks very different from adults.

Some insects undergo simple metamorphosis (sometimes called incomplete or gradual metamorphosis), meaning they molt into a slightly larger nymph and then finally into an adult with complete wings, according to Leeanne Alonso of the nonprofit Global Wildlife Conservation, who