#spittlebugs

[alcnfr]

A few Insecty/Buggy pics from the day...

A Black Carpenter Ant (probably: Camponotus pennsylvanicus) dragging off a long dead Fall Webworm (Hyphantria cunea).

Likely a Banded Tussock Moth caterpillar (Halysidota tessellaris).

Candy-Striped Leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea).

And 2- Two-Lined Spittlebugs (Prosapia bicincta).

[snototter]

A spittlebug (Paraliterna malayana) in Malaysia

by David

[briargeese]

When I was looking for caterpillars with the UV light the spittlebug foam lit up like Christmas tree lights.  Lots of bugs came to investigate including this moth. Actually spittlebugs are also called froghoppers, a better name if you ask me.

[xbot2213]

Me and my friends :)

@xboy2213 - fox @flam-central - spittle bug @mayham2641 - racoon

Drew it for fun :)

[indizombie]

Xylella fastiodiosa is a bacterium that clogs the xylem (the vessels that carry water from the roots to the leaves) of trees and other woody plants and slowly chokes them to death. Spittlebugs, a common insect, spread the disease: when they bite an infected leaf, the bacteria move into their saliva, and the bugs transmit the disease when they feed on their next healthy plant. There are no known cures for this disease, and once infected, the plant slowly dries up (though some infected plants manage to survive without showing symptoms). There are several strains of Xylella, and together they affect 595 plant species worldwide at the last count. Over the past century, Xylella has decimated orange fields in Brazil, vineyards in southern California, and pear trees in Taiwan. 10 years ago, Xylella reached Puglia's olive trees. With its 60 million olive trees, Puglia used to produce up to 50% of Italy's olive oil, but in just a few years, Xylella infected and killed 21 million trees, many of which were several centuries old. Today, an endless sea of dead, grey tree trunks covers the lower part of the region, dotted with what's left of thousands of small-scale farms, olive mills, and greenhouses. The regional governor President Michele Emiliano was initially sceptical about a link between Xylella and the rapid desiccation of olive trees. The scientists working on trying to stop the bacteria were put on trial, accused of spreading the bacteria themselves (eventually, all charges were dropped). Italy was investigated by the European Commission for an inadequate response.

Agostino Petroni, ‘The plan to save Italy's dying olive trees with dogs’, BBC

[pogomcl]

Red and Black Froghopper, Cercopis sanguinolenta Canon 400D EF 100 2.8 f/3.2 1/160 iso: 400 Srbsko, Czech Republic 5/22/2010

[highwaytohellgrammite]

Staring at plants is so rewarding

[fear-the-hippo]

*bleeds on you to discourage predation*

[crevicedwelling]

Clastoptera xanthocephala is a small spittlebug that feeds on plants in the daisy family. they have false eyes on the ends of their wings!

[onenicebugperday]

Just wanted you to appreciate this stunning planthopper that was hanging out on my screen door recently!

They would be soooo well camouflaged on a tree! This one is a spittle bug rather than a planthopper tho.

[alcnfr]

Candy-Striped Leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea)

Two-Lined Spittlebug (Prosapia bicincta)

[oakcricket]

some teeny bugs

[jupiterswasphouse]

[PHOTO TAKEN: JUNE 9TH, 2024 | Image ID: A photo of a red-striped black froghopper on a metal surface /End ID.]

[revretch]

I saw. SO MANY BUG today. (Sorry in advance for bad phone camera quality and shaky hands)

Male March fly!!! (Thanks to @microecobus for the ID!)

Baby sawfly!

Tiny assassin bug!

Flat bug (actually what they're called) and a zebra jumping spider!

Better look at the jumping spider!

Male California glowworm (species of firefly where only the babies and wingless females glow)!

Aphids!

Spittlebug (hiding in the foam on the leaf)!

And last but not least, a huge male snakefly (females have long ovipositors)!!!! So cool to find this one, I've only seen one in person once before in my life!

That's not counting the crane flies, honeybees, ants, little round orange mite, various flies, brown marmorated stink bug (of course), tiger butterfly, boxelder bugs, and tons of little parasitoid wasps I saw pollinating. An excellent bug day for Rev!

[unkn0wnvariable]

Alder Spittlebug

An alder spittlebug clinging to a plant stem in the undergrowth, at Felmersham Gravel Pits.

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Meadow Spittlebug - Philaenus spumarius

After developing inside a frothy blob of foam while nestled against a thriving plant, an adult Spittlebug emerges, ready to leap and fly! Normally, I find this specie with a tan-brown coloration across their whole body (as can be seen in earlier posts), but today's specimen looks drastically different in terms of color. It could even be mistaken for a different specie, hence it's important to remember that the Meadow Spittlebug's color palette is extremely variable! This individual features a mostly melanistic dorsal side with the rest of its body being a sandy brown color. It's likely decorative, but I order why such patterns arise (i.e. is it phenotypic or diet related) and if there are other benefits to this color variation. Nevertheless, there can be many decorative patterns along the insect's body in all manner of colors, including black, white, brown, grey and a brick-orange (as seen on a comprehensive illustration on Bugguide). However it is still a Meadow Spittlebug. We can see that via the presence of prominent wing veins.

While the veins are visible, I don't see any tiny spots near the tip of its head, but its possible that they aren't there given the melanistic color of this individual. There may be something directly on the face of this Hopper, but alas, my phone wasn't able to focus precisely on the little insect. If you think that's tricky to capture in a picture, try and photograph the spine(s) found on the hind tibia of this Bug. Spittlebugs are distinguished from similar insects in other ways than simply, "the nymphs make and hide in frothy spittle when growing". When they hop in the grass and among plants as they travel, their leaping can often lead to mistaking them for drab Leafhoppers. To be absolutely sure, try (your very best) to locate the prominent spikes - species can have 1 or 2 - along with a ring of spines on the hindlegs. If you find those, you've definitely found a Spittlebug, but good luck trying to observe that in the wild. If they aren't leaping away, Spittlebugs often keep their legs concealed beneath their body; it tends to widen out along the abdomen before converging to a tip (in most species). This gives the jumping legs a bit of coverage while the Bug is at rest or maintaining crypsis against a plant...or perhaps in the shadows for melanistic forms.

Pictures were taken on July 7, 2024 with a Google Pixel 4.