Yesterday I was walking through an area of bush near Sydney, when I noticed that a few of the bushes were encrusted with small white blobs:

These are lerps, created by tiny psyllid bugs as a protective covering. The psyllids absorb sap from leaves, process the nutrients in the sap, then excrete the excess sugars as honeydew. The honeydew crystalises to form a kind of hut, the lerp, which the bugs can shelter in.

I’ve seen lerps before, but never in such abundance. We’ve had a number of days of hot, dry weather, followed by a cooler night with some rain. Perhaps the bugs needed protection from the hot weather and dry winds? Or perhaps the relief of the cooler night with rain meant that the bugs could absorb more fluid and thus produce more sugary waste.

Whatever the reason, the little sugary blobs are pretty when viewed from close up:

This one looks like a fairy hat:

And another:

The psyllid bug’s strategy of hiding inside the lerp is not entirely fail safe. The sugary substance is deliciously sweet, and birds are very fond of it. I’ve seen a Red Wattlebird with lerp stuck to its beak, and a Spotted Pardalote busily snapping lerp off leaves.