Now another insect...Spittlebug and their foam. I don't know if we have them here. Have you seen this? Let me know. Thanks

image from blogspot.com 

       ​Good morning.  Cloudy, looks like rain, but I don’t think it is close to us.  BUT it is safe to say we will have a rainy weekend.  Temperature high today is 70F(21C).  It might feel more like fall, but I don’t know about the humidity.  That humidity moved in last night after the rain. We have a slow low system that is causing all this rain and really moving slowly.  Stay cool, stay safe.
 
Australia family and friends for their Saturday Sept 20 looks like they are having rain also.  One of the friends wrote that it was nice during the week, so they worked in the garden, but yesterday it was very windy so wasn’t as nice to be outside.  High for them will be 56F(14C).  Stay warm, stay safe.
 
I guess I am interested in garden bugs.  I found this bug very interesting.  Now I don’t think I have seen this one in the gardens here.  Have you?  But I found it interesting how they use this spit to have their eggs in. 
 
That's not spit!
Written By: Andy Wilcox
Eww—what’s that foamy glop on your strawberry leaf or dahlia stem? It looks like spit, and you probably don’t even want to touch it. Don’t worry—your neighbor’s kid isn’t chewing tobacco in your garden. You’ve got spittlebugs. Here’s how to identify spittlebugs, understand what that frothy foam is, and know when (or if) you should get rid of them.
What Are Spittlebugs?
Spittlebugs are small, winged insects—over 30 species are native to North America. In most gardens, they’re not considered serious pests (aside from those nasty-looking spit globs). However, one species, the two-lined spittlebug (Prosapia bicincta), can damage turfgrass in the eastern half of the United States, ranging from Florida to Maine and as far west as Texas. Nymphs are particularly active in heavy thatch.
While spittlebugs typically don’t appear in large numbers, they can feed on a wide range of plants, including strawberries, herbs, ornamental grasses, perennials, and even trees. Some species are picky; others, not so much. Unlike many garden pests, both the adult and immature stages (called nymphs) feed on plants using their piercing-sucking mouthparts.
The most common species you’ll run into in gardens is the meadow spittlebug, Philaenus spumarius. If you spot one while walking with friends, you might shake your fist at the sky and declare, “Ahhh, Philaenus spumarius, my old foe!” Your friends will think you’re cool and wildly knowledgeable. Maybe. If they’re good friends. (Didn’t work that way for me, come to think of it.)
Philaenus spumarius froghopper on a green leaf with blurred background
Spit happens! Meet the froghopper behind those foamy blobs on your plants. Credit: Luc Pouliot
Spittlebugs usually have just one generation per year, overwintering as eggs in the garden’s duff layer. In spring, the eggs hatch and nymphs emerge—hidden inside their foamy spit bubbles. They’ll molt several times before becoming adults.
Are Spittlebugs Harmful to Plants?
In most home gardens, spittlebugs aren’t harmful enough to worry about. While both nymphs and adults feed by sucking sap from plant stems, the damage is usually minimal—especially when their numbers are low. You might notice a little stunted growth or slight wilting on tender plants, but it’s rarely serious.
The biggest nuisance is the frothy spit they produce to hide in—not actual plant damage. However, in large infestations or with certain species like the two-lined spittlebug, feeding can cause more visible damage, especially in warm-season lawns (Centipede grass, Bermuda grass, Zoysia grass, St. Augustine grass).
Adults are sometimes found feeding on hollies in late summer and early fall. For most gardeners, spittlebugs are more icky than harmful—and control usually isn’t necessary unless they become unusually abundant.
Why the Spit?
Spittlebugs are unique in that they feed not on the phloem layer of the plant but on the xylem tissues. The xylem carries water and is much more diluted in terms of nutrients, so the spittlebugs must filter out a lot of fluid to get the nutrition they seek. All that water must be excreted, which is how they make the wet, foamy mess we know them by. Spittlebug nymphs are hidden quite well inside the bubbly mass and can be hard to see unless you poke around inside it.
Although the foamy substance resembles spit, it comes not from the mouth but from the other end. Check out this page from the University of Wisconsin Extension for more disturbing details on how the spittlebugs make those secretions they leave on your plants.
How to Identify Spittlebugs
We normally don’t notice spittlebugs at all unless we spot the telltale spit they leave behind. They are small, and the damage they cause to plants is often not noticed unless there is an abundance of them.
Spittlebug nymphs emerge in spring and are pale green or yellow and are almost always spotted inside the spit glob. However, they will move around to find better food if their current location has dried up. They go through several stages, getting larger until the final instar, when they develop wings and darker coloring.
Adult spittlebugs are about half an inch long and have large hind legs. They often hop great distances when disturbed but rarely fly, leading to their other common name, froghoppers. They can be brown, yellow, tan, or a mottled combination of colors. Adult two-lined spittlebugs have two distinct orange or red lines across their wings, which appear as two stripes when their wings are folded on their back.
Spittlebug eggs are nondescript, small and white, and not often seen. They are laid in the fall by females in plant tissue, often interior to the plant stem, where they are hidden.
Identifying Spittlebug Damage
While spittlebugs can be a nuisance in a few crops like strawberries and ornamental herbaceous plants when in high numbers, they usually aren’t a serious pest to our gardens. You’ll notice them by the white, frothy spittle the nymphs create, but not normally by damage to plants.
The host plants are widely varied, as there are many species of spittlebugs, and they can be anything from conifer trees to roses and herbs like mint. Other than the unpleasant idea of getting wet from touching their spittle, they aren’t much cause for alarm in normal numbers. Many spittlebugs on the same plant can cause distorted new growth.
Two-lined spittlebugs commonly feed on turfgrass, with centipede grass and St. Augustine grass being the most common targets. Stippled grass blades and blotchy patches not attributed to other problems (plus spittle) are common symptoms.
Control and Prevention
How to Get Rid of Spittlebugs
Spittlebugs don’t do much damage, but they till aren’t welcome in our gardens. In yards, the two-lined spittlebug can cause blotchy, unattractive patches, which are more severe where thatch has built up.
If the sight of spit bubbles is driving you up the wall—or you’re seeing signs of plant stress—here are a few easy, low-impact ways to manage them:
Knock them off your plants with a shot from the hose. It will wash away the spittle and dislodge the nymph, which will have to take time to crawl back up and find another suitable feeding spot. While it relocates, the nymph is vulnerable to becoming a snack for birds and predatory insects.
Squish them by hand (put on some kitchen rubber gloves if you like). The nymph is inside the spittle. If you’re not squeamish, just pinch off the spit blobs or wipe them away. This exposes the nymphs to predators and the elements.
Encourage natural predators. Birds, spiders, and beneficial insects like assassin bugs will happily snack on spittlebugs.
Insecticidal soap or neem oil can be used in serious cases—but these are rarely necessary and may harm beneficial insects. Always try gentler methods first.
Read up on how to use natural methods to control pests in the garden.
Heavy infestations, especially in Scotch pine trees, can be treated with insecticide following the manufacturer’s directions on the label.
For two-lined spittlebugs in grass, dethatching and using an insecticide labeled for spittlebug control can help.
How to Prevent Spittlebugs
Spittlebugs overwinter as eggs and reemerge in spring. Good garden hygiene can help, especially in a strawberry patch, but prevention is difficult.
Avoid over-fertilizing. Too much nitrogen can encourage lush, tender growth that sap-suckers love. Keep plants healthy but not overfed.
Keep the garden clear of adjacent weeds and tall grasses. Kill nymphs as they are found in spring and summer, and encourage predatory insects by planting beds of native plants.
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/pest/spittlebugs-get-rid-them-or-let-them-be
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365  Beckysgreenhouse.com  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer or Becky’s Greenhouse