Subject: Pool rescue
Geographic location of the bug: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Date: 06/19/2018
Time: 06:51 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: I pulled this cheerful little critter out of my pool today (June 19). It spent 15 minutes cleaning the water off itself and another 15 crawling around on my hand since rescue. I would love to know what it is.
I have never had a pool before and I swear I spend as much time rescuing bugs and spiders, and watching them after, as I do swimming!
How you want your letter signed: Stephanie in PA
Dear Stephanie,
Because of your bug rescue program, we are tagging this posting with the Bug Humanitarian Award. This is a Dogwood Spittlebug, Clastoptera proteus, which we identified on BugGuide. According to BugGuide: “Common on dogwood and Vaccinium in the Midwest.” Spittlebugs are so called because the nymphs secrete a frothy substance that acts as a refuge and the substance resembles spittle.
