The Brazilian Treehopper is a fairly common insect that lives mainly in tropical forests, perhaps one of the most bizarre-looking creatures on the planet.

They are about the size of a pea, mainly just nibbling leaves on the tops of trees. However, what makes our skin crawl when we see it is the strange object on its head.

It resembles a “hat”, made up of four chitinous shelled balls and covered with many hairs, making this tiny insect look like something out of a sci-fi or sci-fi movie. horror film.

Even today, scientists still cannot explain what effect these spheres actually have on Brazilian locusts, or just contribute to making them scary.

Some theories suggest that the spherical structures protect Brazilian locusts by acting as “false heads” to distract attacking predators.

While others are convinced that the species has evolved to resemble a parasitic fungus called Ophiocordyceps simpleis.

This parasitic fungus is known for its terrible ability, when it can take over the minds and bodies of wood-boring ants – Camponotus rufipes, turning them into “zombies”, then die and become their environment. environment for the fungus to continue growing.

Science currently recognizes there are more than 3,000 species of locusts, and they can be found on every continent except Antarctica. But the Brazilian variant is the only variant that possesses a strange “hat”, making it look like an alien creature.

But contrary to its dangerous appearance, the Brazilian grasshopper is just a completely normal small insect, spending all day searching for food and breeding.