Common name: Cigarrón palo majorero
Scientific name: Purpuraria erna
Status: It is an endemic insect of the eastern Canary Islands. The species was discovered in Fuerteventura, hence its name, although later a very similar subspecies was also found in Lanzarote.
Curiosities: When sensing the approach of a possible enemy, it does not flee, but rather relies on its cryptic brown color to cling firmly and motionless to a twig and go unnoticed. He jumps at the last moment, but lacking wings, his jumps don’t take him very far. Its food consists mainly of the leaves of the bitter tabaiba. With their maximum length of six centimeters, females can be twice as long as males. The survival strategy that they have developed in the face of adverse environmental conditions is surprising, such as the extreme drought that they can withstand in the summer periods of Fuerteventura or Lanzarote.
