I have something on my trumpet vine that looks just like spittle. It's also on some of my other plants as well. What is this and how alarmed should I be? Thanks all!!
Spit bug??
You guessed it, it is one of the Spittle bugs. Here are some pictures.
http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4TH/KKHP/1insects/spittlebug.html
Josephine.
Darn it!! I'm assuming I need to get rid of them if they live on the sap of my plants? I'm still suffering from last year's aphid infestation. I have a lot of perrenials that aren't coming back this year. Now I have another critter to deal with. Oh well, it's worth all the beauty of gardening. :)
Do you think you might be able to come to one of the swaps?
It would be nice to see you again.
Some of my milkweeds did not make it through the winter, luckily I did bring some in the garage during cold spells. I have monarch cats already, so the fun begins.
I am so glad you asked this question. I've seen a lot of 'spit' around my yard and have been wondering the same thing. Thanks!
As a kid, my friends and I used to play in vacant lots and pick blackberries (?) dewberries (?). The older kids would tell us if we saw the spittle it meant that snakes were there. HaHaHa. No wonder I fear snakes to this day. Thanks Josephine for the clarification of the bug that produces that spittle.
Ann
I have read that if you see them while still in the spit phase, a strong hose can get them off. The key is to get them still in the spit stage b/c they are still babies. Once grown they kind of look like stink bugs and they feed off the sap of your plants.
Ug....don't think I've ever seen this stuff! Thanks for the warning. What other plants do they like other than the trumpet vine?
They can be found on a lot of different plants. Just wash the "spit" off with water as suggested by greenie67.
here's some spit:
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/garden/archives/SpittleBUGS.JPG
I hosed some off of a sunflower this morning. Grrr...
We used to call it "snake spit"
Anne
Josephine, tell them how many different species of spittle bugs there are! ;) lol
Well O.K. Paige, there are 23,000 and I am not making it up, here is the link.
http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4TH/KKHP/1insects/spittlebug.html
That little bit of info has come in handy lately. :) ...I wonder how they counted those? hmmm...
I have no idea, Frank says there must be a guy somewhere whose job it is to count spittle bugs, a very exciting job indeed.
Oh, if I could get paid for counting bugs...