What do you do when someone you know has developed feelings for you that you don't reciprocate?
You start with subtle signs like disagreeing with them on politics and avoiding eye contact. If that doesn't work, you drop a few more hints to let that person know your disinterest, like cancelling plans with them at the last minute and avoiding interacting with them outside the group. Using body language to express disinterest like crossing your arms or wearing a t-shirt which says "I am with stupid ->" can also work.
If all of those fails, you get directly to the point while being polite. Being polite is important because you don't know where the other person is coming from and what made them so interested in you.
But when I revealed my love for the leafhopper, it did not respond in kind. In fact, they acted so mean and rude towards me that it left me with a broken heart. Don't believe me, see how they react when I express my feelings.
If any of you are looking for a new hobby, sneaking up on leafhoppers and freaking them out is a great one to add to your tool belt. So, it comes as no surprise, when I spotted a bunch of leafhoppers hanging out on the grasses at a local park, I ended up spending almost 4 hours (yes, I am aware I need therapy, social media and a Netflix account) just sneaking up on them and recording their dramatics.
Now, a lot of people don't realize that leafhoppers can fly. Although only adults can do that. The juvenile leafhoppers are not eligible to get their pilot's license yet hence all they can do is jump to get away from danger. Adult leafhoppers will readily jump to get airborne but once in the air, they can't really maneuver which direction they are headed, that is when the wings come to play. But sometimes, if they lose their footing, their wings will come to the rescue as well.
Leafhoppers use their two long hind legs to jump away to safety. But some of these individuals are just slow to react to danger so if you act quickly and pin them by their wings, you can observe them struggling to deploy their hindlegs and throwing tantrums when they can't get away.
And despite having the power of flight and jump, these creatures do not have the best of instincts to sense danger and will often find themselves on the dinner plate of predators. Like the case of this leafhopper which became the meal for a lacewing larva (Lacewing larvae are the coolest predators you might not be aware of. Why?)
One guaranteed way of sneaking close to a leafhopper without it jumping or flying away is when they are engaged in mating. For a successful mating session, the pair have to be locked in this position for about 70 minutes, so if any one of the participants interrupts this process, the entire process has to start all over again, which is fine, it's not like these leafhoppers are finding the cure for COVID-19 or doing anything productive with their time.
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