This time of year when you are out frolicking through pastures and forests with your kids, you’ll often find yourself with wet hands or legs on even the driest days of the summer. A cursory look back at the weeds you walked through will find bubbly froth on their stems.
Most people assume it’s sap.
It’s not.
Not to gross you out, but it’s bug secretions.
If you pushed aside those bubbles, you would find a rather non-descript little
insect, a spittlebug nymph, thinking it’s cozy and safe. Spittlebugs secrete
the substance to create a shelter that keeps them free of predation (and from
drying out from the sun and the heat) while they suck the juices from plant
stems and leaves.
Although it’s aptly called a spittlebug on appearance alone – after all, the
froth looks like spit – the spittlebug isn’t producing spit. The primary juice
really comes from the bug’s anus. The runny solution then flows all over the
bug’s body (spittlebugs eat upside down) and mixes with other liquids that come
out of pits on the bug’s abdomen. Those substances mix with air, creating the
long-lasting bubbles.
Spittlebugs can prove to be a real pest to alfalfa and clover, common crops and
deer attractants, respectively, across Western New York. Sometimes, spittlebugs
can infest a whole field and make for bruised stems and unhealthy plants, more
so with first-year alfalfa crops. The young bugs can also create other problems
when their spittle wets down plants and jams older farm machinery (which shows
you just how many can inhabit one field).
Spittlebugs are also a foe to gardeners as they consume a wide variety of
ornamental plants. In a wild setting, I’ve found that they have an affinity for
goldenrod and smartweed.
They are tough to control because one would have to physically collect through
sweeping (which is usually the method suggested by agricultural agencies),
rather than poison, the insects when they are crazy, bouncing adults in the
late-summer. Adult spittlebugs are commonly called froghoppers. The 1/8” to ½”
critters get that name because they hop from plant to plant like miniature
frogs (unlike their young, they do not create the frothy cover nor do they
damage crops).
Adding to their difficulty to control, they have been granted other special
powers by Mother Nature: Their eggs are cold-resistant and remain entirely
healthy all winter long.
Spittlebugs are really bothersome…and gross. When next you go walking outdoors
please don’t ruin your hike and think about what that wet stuff is on your
hands and legs. Don’t let a little bit of bug butt juice ruin your day.
Just be sure to wash yourself off when you are done hiking.
From the 27 June 2023 Wellsville Sun
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