Bug Wiki
Bug Wiki / All bugs / True bugs and cicadas
Sticker of Peanut bug
Bug card No. 1034 of 1,500

Peanut bug

Fulgora laternaria
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasRainforests and jungles6 legs

The peanut bug has one of the strangest heads in the insect world. It is a big bump shaped like a peanut, painted with pretend eyes and teeth so it looks like a little lizard or alligator. When something attacks it, it flashes two big yellow fake eyes on its back wings.

Lives in
Mexico, Central America and South America, in tropical forests
Length
8.5 to 9 cm (3.3 to 3.5 in)
Wingspan
10 to 15 cm (3.9 to 5.9 in)
Top speed
about 3 km/h (1.9 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It is not venomous, and it only drinks tree sap.
What does it eat?
It drinks the sap of trees with its sucking mouth.
For real!Photo of Peanut bug
Picture by Pavel Kirillov from St.Petersburg, Russia. CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Peanut bug about 9 cm long (3.5 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)

How wide are its wings?

Peanut bug wings about 15 cm tip to tip (5.9 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)A house cat about 50 cm (20 in)
as long as 3 toy building bricks in a rowwings as wide as your handcould run across a dinner table in 1.2 seconds

How big is Peanut bug compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its wings can be up to 15 centimetres across, about as wide as a grown-up's hand.

2

During the day it sits still on tree trunks, where its colours help it blend in.

3

To find a partner, it knocks its head against hollow trees to make them shake.

4

People once thought its peanut head glowed in the dark like a lantern. It does not, but the name lantern fly stuck.

5

If it is attacked, it can also give off a very bad smell.

you asked

Most asked questions about Peanut bug

?Is the peanut bug dangerous?

No. Old stories say its bite is deadly, but it is not venomous and is harmless to people.

?Why does the peanut bug have a peanut-shaped head?

The bump has fake eyes and teeth that make it look like a lizard, which may scare off hungry animals.

?How big is the peanut bug?

Its body is about 9 centimetres long and its wings can be up to 15 centimetres across.

Myth buster

Myth: A bite from the peanut bug can kill you.

Truth: No. That is just an old folk tale. The peanut bug is not venomous and only drinks tree sap.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Fulgora laternaria
Named by
Linnaeus, 1758
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Fulgoridae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Fulgoridae
Lives on
North America, South America
Also known as
Lantern fly, Peanut-headed lanternfly, Alligator bug

Where the facts come from

  1. Fulgora laternaria (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Pavel Kirillov from St.Petersburg, Russia. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.

More from the same group: True bugs and cicadas

Pharaoh cicadaTrue bugs and cicadasSpotted lanternflyTrue bugs and cicadasBrown marmorated stink bugTrue bugs and cicadasCochinealTrue bugs and cicadasBoxelder bugTrue bugs and cicadasWestern conifer seed bugTrue bugs and cicadas

Also at home here: Rainforests and jungles

Wallace's golden birdwingButterfliesFlorida whip spiderScorpions, ticks and friendsGreen-banded uraniaMothsSun beetleBeetlesJavanese grasshopperGrasshoppers and cricketsGiant flower beetleBeetles