I was so inspired by THIS POST that I began paying more attention to the foam in my own garden. Some find "jewels in the foam" and I found a close relative of the aphid (Aphidoidea) in the spit. It's really not even "spit" because they don't create those bubbles from their mouth holes, it's technically a fart bubble. EWWWW! I found them on my roses, my peonies, my marjoram, and more. I found them everywhere!
Here's what I found from the University of Wisconsin Horticulture site:
These small insects get their name from the globs of foamy “spit” they create along the stems of plants. They produce the frothy mixture by mixing air with fluid excretions, but not out their mouth, so it technically isn’t spit. The immature bugs feed face down on the stem, and as excess sap is excreted out the anus,it is mixed with a substance secreted by epidermal glands that enhances surface viscosity and stabilizes the foam to make it last longer. This mixture is forced out of the abdomen under pressure and as it is mixed with air, it forms bubbles. Some species can produce as many as 80 bubbles per minute. The spittlebug moves its abdomen up and down and as the bubbles emerge, it reaches back with its legs and pulls the bubbles forward over its back.
They are this awful creature you see crawling away on my marjoram (I refuse to call something so vile a "nymph") ...living in the fart bubbles when they're not quite adults yet ... (yes, my inner seven year old busts up every time I type 'fart bubble').
These things reminded me of a sea shrimp, except it lives on plants. When they get older they can jump very far, so they're like super tiny vampire frogs.
They like to hang out with aphids. I found them living next door to this mass of monsters.
(brace yourselves, this gave me the creeps when I viewed it on my computer screen after I took the picture)
So, what can be done when these tiny green and yellow sap sucking, virus polluting, fart bubbling monsters show up in your garden? For me, it was as though they showed up over night. They don't even need to mate to have offspring either! It's mind blowing! Aside from hiring ladybugs to munch on all of them, I immediately put some dish soap in a spray bottle and began my own foamy attack.
My poor roses and herbs will forgive me, I hope.
And I hope you forgive me if you have nightmares of creepy crawly vampire aphids and spit bugs!
They are very difficult to control, and now I'm going to be on super patrol over my strawberries because next to roses, those seem to be their favorite.
Take a look at @Labyrinths when you have a moment, and join our labyrinth community on HIVE if you're interested. We just started it, so there's not much going on yet, but if you're ever in the need for a "down to earth" (but not too earthy) psychic, you can find me online at Brigid's Aether.
Any images and graphics (unless noted) are mine.
