Meadow spittlebugs leaving their mark

• Published date: 03 December 2022
• Publication title: Mix, The

Spittlebug froth usually appears in early summer and has often disappeared by late December. In Dunedin, however, cooler overcast weather in December can slow the spittlebug life cycle and result in spittlebug froth being present until January

The female spittlebug lays its eggs in autumn. There are five juvenile stages called nymphs. Newly hatched spittlebugs are extremely active and wander about until they find a suitable host-plant.

Once this is done, the young nymph inserts its beak and proceeds to draw sap. A filtering chamber in the oesophagus passes most of the excess water and much of the sugar to the posterior part of the gut. This bypass results in considerably more sap being sucked up than is digested and the excess flows out of the anus and adheres to the plant and the nymph.

Soon, a droplet covers the entire nymph. It breathes by means of a tube-like canal below the abdomen. Nymphs produce bubbles by vigorous motions of the abdomen — the air canal is...