Spittlebugs

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Have you ever poked around inside one of those masses of bubbles that you see on grass and other plant stems? If so, chances are that you have discovered that an insect actually lives inside this frothy home – the immature stage (nymph) of a Spittlebug. It hangs head down while piercing the stem of the plant and ingests the sap. Because the sugar content is often very low, the nymph must drink a lot of sap in order to get the nutrition it needs. As a result, the Spittlebug pumps out the excess water from the tip of its abdomen, which amounts to 150 – 300 times its weight every 24 hours. During this process, oxygen and nymphal secretions cause the water to have a sticky, bubbly quality, and these sticky bubbles pour down over the nymph, creating a moist home that prevents the Spittlebug nymph from drying out and that discourages predators as it tastes bad. Once it has matured, the nymph metamorphoses into an adult Spittlebug (also called a Froghopper) and flies away.  (Photographs are of:  spittlebug “spit,” spittlebug nymph and adult spittlebug emerging from nymphal skin.)

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