Categories

Beneficial or Pest?
Hi,
I live in Round Rock, TX. Could you please tell me what this bug is? I love beneficials and just cannot seem to find a picture of it on the internet. I thought it might be some kind of Milkbug at first but, it is on everything in my garden from tomato to cucumber to melon to basil plants. It does not seem to be chewing or sucking on the leaves so I am thinking maybe it is a beneficial. Help! Thanks,
Jeffrey Bryant

Hi Jefffrey,
This is a Two Lined Spittlebug, Prosapia bicincta. The immature insects form a mass of foamy spittle that serves as a protection while the insect feeds by sucking the juices from plants. Your photo shows the winged adult. According to BugGuide: “In the immature (nymph) stage (surrounded by the “spittle” foam which protects them, and which they produce from juices they suck from the plant) they feed on centipedegrass, bermudagrass and other grasses, including occasionally corn. Adults feed on hollies – they feed on the underside of leaves, and damage shows up as pale mottling not usually visible from above.”

Related Posts

1. Spittle from a Spittlebug and Aphid (May 27, 2007)
2. Spittlebug Spittle (May 10, 2007)
3. Two Lined Spittlebug (July 14, 2009)
4. Spittle from a Spittlebug (July 17, 2009)
5. Two Lined Spittlebug (January 10, 2010)