Snake Spit
By Mike Farley
As a young boy, I often heard the words “snake spit” used to describe frothy white spittle on lower plant stems. Never knowing whether this was true or not I cast cautious glances all around for the snakes hiding out as I walked. Pretty soon, evidence of snakes appeared to be everywhere, yet while chasing plenty of snakes as a boy I never say any spittle on plants!
Spittlebugs, as they are known in larval nymph form, are from the family Aphrophoridae and superfamily Cercopoidea. They produce the spittle as a form of protection from predators while they feed on the sap of plants using sucking mouthparts. This also coincides with the arrival of springtime. The spittle is produced by mixing air from their abdomen with excess amounts of watery urine 
along with a mucilaginous substance excreted from the epidermal glands. The larvae must poke its abdomen tip outside of the frothy mixture to breathe and then retreats back inside.
There are approximately 930 subspecies in 160 genera worldwide, with 30 ssp. in 7 genera in the U.S. One species I managed to observe during the city nature challenge was the Hill-Prairie Spittlebug Lepyronia gibbosa.
Spittlebugs in the adult form are known as Froghoppers due to their ability to jump great distances compared to their relative size.
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