Male scale Insect or mealy bug - strange insect!
What an odd insect! I'm pretty sure this is a male Scale Insect or Mealybug (Sternorrhyncha, Hemiptera) - maybe a Giant Mealybug in the family Putoidae, genus Puto. See this photo at BugGuide, and this photo by Alice Abelia which look very similar. The eyes of his insect are very strange, I added a closer crop. This critter is tiny, about 1/8 inch long without its tails - and 1/2 inch with. The long white tails are really just long hairs covered by a waxy exudate. I made a grab for one a few years ago, and the white stuff came off in my fingers leaving just the filament. I guess the whole insect is covered with the same waxy exudate. If this is a male, I have no idea what the females look like - but they must be out there. I don't see these critters every year, but I did see one last year also in June - see this photo. I found this one on a leaf of native Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia, Rosaceae), but I'm sure that was just where it happened to land. (San Marcos Pass, 19 June 2018)
Male scale Insect or mealy bug - strange insect!
What an odd insect! I'm pretty sure this is a male Scale Insect or Mealybug (Sternorrhyncha, Hemiptera) - maybe a Giant Mealybug in the family Putoidae, genus Puto. See this photo at BugGuide, and this photo by Alice Abelia which look very similar. The eyes of his insect are very strange, I added a closer crop. This critter is tiny, about 1/8 inch long without its tails - and 1/2 inch with. The long white tails are really just long hairs covered by a waxy exudate. I made a grab for one a few years ago, and the white stuff came off in my fingers leaving just the filament. I guess the whole insect is covered with the same waxy exudate. If this is a male, I have no idea what the females look like - but they must be out there. I don't see these critters every year, but I did see one last year also in June - see this photo. I found this one on a leaf of native Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia, Rosaceae), but I'm sure that was just where it happened to land. (San Marcos Pass, 19 June 2018)