Superfamily Cercopoidea - Froghoppers and Spittle Bugs

Order Hemiptera

This page contains pictures and information about Froghoppers and Spittle Bugs in Superfamily Cercopoidea that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.


Spittle Bugs

Froghoppers and Spittle Bugs adults are good jumper with spiny hind legs. They are sucker feeding sap on plants. Nymphs make spittle or tube and hind inside as protection.


Family Aphrophoridae - Spittlebugs
Their nymphs produce 'spittle' clinging to the stems of shrubs or small trees to reduce the risk of dehydration or to deter parasites. Those spittle is sometimes known as cuckoo-spit. When carefully removed those 'spittle', we saw an insect nymph hiding inside.



Family Clastopteridae: Machaerotinae - Tube Spittlebugs
Insects in this group are commonly known as Tube Spittlebugs. Their nymphs build and live in calcareous tubes attached to stems of food plants. The nymphs immersed in their liquid excretions. Their host plants are usually Eucalypts. Adults are usually greenish- yellow or black in colours.



Reference:
1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, pp 469.
2. The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand (Homoptera: Cicadelloidea and Cercopoidea) - J W Evans, Australian Museum, 1966, p28.
3. Northern Territory Insects, A Comprehensive Guide CD - Graham Brown, 2009.