leafhopper emmiting flash of light?

i accidentely posted this in the wrong forum so i copy and pasted it here, sorry about that !!

i was out checking over my sunflowers the other day when i came across a very small very colorful insect...after doing my home work i discovered he was a red and blue leafhopper, i was checking him out very closley and shot a couple photo's of him...my question is on his rear he has a little red stick like thing sticking out, well while i was observing him, this thing flashed, the thing on his rear, it flashed a bright red, light like a lightning bug, being the insect was so small it was a small flash but it was very bright for his size, i tried to capture a photo of him doing this but was unsuccessful, my camera disturbed him, i was in disbelief but my boyfriend stared at him for awhile and it flashed for him too, so he comfirmed that i was not crazy and just seeing things...i have looked all over the internet on these insects and for the life of me nothing that i can find mentions anything of this..i am wondering if i stumbled upon something that no one else has or is it so miniscule that it does not even deserve mentioning from an insect of this size...if anyone can help me and give me more info on the flashing that a leafhopper emits that would be great!! i am going to try attaching a couple photo's of him and in one you can see the light emmiting organ that i am talking about..thankyou so much in advance for any info!!

It is a Graphocephala coccinea, but I can't find ANY references to its emitting a flash of light. I wonder if it is a chemical reaction as it processes the plant sap? Sort of Technicolor poop? The world we live in is full of strange and wonderful creatures....GRIN

Technicolor poop...lol that made me laugh, no it is not pooping....the same day i found another one on another one of my sunflowers and it had the same stick like thing on his hiney....you can see it in the photo...i for the life of me cannot find anything either about this anywhere....i checked my sunflowers again today to see if i could find any to get a video of this but there were none, i am going to keep checking though, if i do successfully get a video of this i will somehow find somewhere i can post it to you can see what i am talking about, it was a distinct bright red flash and it fizzled out at the end like a lightning bugs light fizzles out, thank you for taking the time to try to help me out!!

You are welcome. We all seem to enjoy a puzzle now and then.

These would not have flashed in any fashion, but is it possible that the leafhopper was parasitized by a strepsipteran (twisted-wing parasite)? see http://tinyurl.com/mx2bzk

yes this is puzzling...i swear i am not crazy, this thing emmitted some form of light, i was shocked when it happened and jumped back and told my boyfriend to confirm that it was not in my head lol...he watched the hopper for awhile and seen the same thing i did, i found two more on my plants today, the one did not have the stick on his hiney, the other one did....i watched it for along time but it never lit up....if this thing had parasites would those flash? i am very baffled over this one and i sincerley believe you that these things do not flash....but this one certain one i seen did, i will definately be watching them over the next few days and i will let ya know if i see it again...or try to photograph it...thankyou very much for taking the time to answer my question

Soooo glad someone else posted about this. I have been looking for some mention of it on the web, but nothing came up. My DH and I witnessed it from one of our leaf hoppers. They aren't the red and blue colored but here is a picture. It did have what appeared to be electric charge shooting out at 1-2 second intervals. We tried to get a picture, and in hine site should have gotten the camcorder. I thought it might be an egg laying process. I will be interested to see what others say.

This does not look like egg laying; the ovipositor in leafhoppers is ventral, not dorsal. This could be a parasite of some kind.

All I know is DH and I watched it for several minutes and it looked as if an electrical charge was shooting out of it's posterior. Weirdest thing to witness. When disturbed it would stop then begin again.

thankyou!! i was really beginning to think i just may be crazy!! i know exactely what you are talking about with the electrical charge, i have been watching them for the past two days non stop trying to catch one flash again and i noticed the same thing coming out of this stick, like a minute elecrical zap coming right out the end of it, the one i was watching flashed bright red the color of the stick.....i have not seen one flash since, i will be watching them again tomorrow, i am bound and determined to catch this on film or video. i knew i seen what i saw.....i was even questioning my bf to make sure he really seen this...thankyou for responding and keeping my sanity in check!!

I was thinking the same thing Twiggy when I read your post. LOL!

lol....at least us crazies aren't alone in the world!!!!

The LH was on a basket of Purslane the other day and while I was having coffee this morning, I peered in to see if there was one there. I know it sounds crazy, but there was and the flashing was working too. I am going to ask DH if he will dig out the camcorder for me tonight.