Bug FAQTelamona maculata
Telamona maculata · Order: Hemiptera · Family: Membracidae
Telamona maculata has a high, almost flat pronotum with a crest that shows brown and beige patches, and a pale face contrasting the rest of its body. It lives across the eastern part of North America, though it is rarely seen in the southeastern United States. Like other treehoppers, it feeds on sap from the undersides of leaves of hickory and several oak species.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The pronotum is high and almost plateau-shaped, with a crest that has brown and beige sections, and the face is pale compared with the rest of the body.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It feeds on sap from the undersides of leaves, especially on hickory (Carya) and several oak species such as white oak, swamp white oak, bur oak, and chestnut oak.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Telamona maculata occurs throughout the eastern part of North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It can be confused with the similar species Telamona tristis.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 30 of 51 states and DC. Most records: North Carolina, Illinois, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What trees does Telamona maculata feed on?
It feeds on the sap of hickory and several oak species, including white oak, swamp white oak, bur oak, and chestnut oak.
Source: Wikipedia
How can I tell Telamona maculata apart from similar bugs?
Look for its high, almost flat pronotum with a brown-and-beige crest and a pale face; these features differ from the look of Telamona tristis.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is Telamona maculata found?
It is found across the eastern part of North America, but it is rarely seen in the southeastern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Membracidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telamona_maculata
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-27 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-27.