In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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April 12, 2007

Spittlebug time

It’s spittlebug season.

You’ve seen them. They look like masses of foamy spit held tightly against the stems of plants. In my garden, they seem to love the yarrow, asters and roses. Gently wash the spittle away with the hose, and you’ll find a soft-looking, little greenish-brown insect, only about ¼-inch long, hiding inside. That’s the spittlebug nymph, and, like the spittlebug adult, it sucks plant sap. I’ve never noticed any damage from spittlebugs, but I’ve read that a large infestation could weaken plants. Whenever I see them, I wash them away, and after a few days, that seems to discourage them enough that they don’t come back.

According to “Insect, Disease & Weed I.D. Guide” by Jill Cebenko and Deborah Martin (Rodale Press, 308 pages), they’re also called froghoppers. Adults are brown or green, oval-shaped, with a blunt, frog-like head. Nymphs are wingless. They feed inside the frothy bubbles for as long as seven weeks, then molt to the adult stage. The adults lay their eggs in August and September, and the eggs overwinter until the following spring when the cycle starts again.

If you have spittlebugs, don’t worry; just wash them off the plants.

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