Have you ever noticed spittle blobs stuck to leaves or to the stems of plants? Spittlebugs are the nymphs or young forms of froghoppers (of the superfamily Cercopoidea). The nymphs make their protective homes by surrounding themselves with a frothy mass of little bubbles. They live in their bubble housing while they grow and molt, and they spend their time sucking plant fluids and continually making more spittle by pumping their abdomens and excreting bubbly urine. They drink a lot of sap, so the output is a lot of bubbles, and sometimes you’ll find several nymphs living together in one big spittle mass.
Gross or cool?
After their final molt, the adult froghoppers emerge from the spittle. The bugs continue to feed on sap, hopping and visiting their favorite plants.
