Stats

Lifespan: A few months
Size: Small
Diet: Herbivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Eurasia and North America
Movement: Hopping
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

The meadow spittlebug is best known for its nymphs, which cloak themselves in a blob of self-made froth — whipped from plant sap — to hide from predators and avoid drying out. Adults are small, mottled brown hoppers capable of jumping many times their own body length.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A small egg is laid on or near the larval food source and hatches within days or weeks.
2.
juvenile
An immature insect feeds and molts, growing through successive instars.
3.
subadult
A near-adult insect has wing buds or near-mature form, one molt away from full size.
4.
adult
Fully grown, with full wings and adult coloration.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Aphrophoridae
Genus: Philaenus
Species: Philaenus spumarius