Spittle bug

Ever notice a foamy, spit-like substance in the leaf axils of shrubs or other plants? If so, you know it’s the spittlebug, a native pest of the Prairies, which feeds on the sap of a wide variety of plants including shrubs, perennials and grasses. Although they feed on sap, damage to plants is minimal and their numbers tend to be small.

Spittlebugs produce that foamy mass by mixing ingested plant sap with mucilaginous juices from their glands. This liquid exits from the spittlebugs anus and produces foamy bubbles. This foamy substance is thought to insulate and conceal the nymphs from predators, however some birds and some parasitic insects have learned to pick the nymph out.

Spittlebugs are eaten by various birds, spiders, ants and beetles.

Adult spittlebugs are a dull green with four wings and have the ability to hop like little frogs because of their enlarged hind legs. There is one generation per year. Eggs overwinter on plant stems and branches. They hatch out in spring and the nymphs feed on stems in June and July thus producing that foamy mass. Winged adults disperse in summer and lay eggs in fall.

Control:

• Use a strong spray of water from the hose to wash away the foam and insect
• Pick them off the plants by hand

Source:

Hamilton, K. (1982). The spittlebugs of Canada Homoptera, Cercopidae. Ottawa, Ontario: Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.