Alder spittlebug
Clastoptera obtusa
The alder spittlebug is a small bug from North America. It is a spittlebug, and the young ones of spittlebugs hide inside a little blob of foam on a plant. The foam looks like spit, but the bug makes it itself.
Lives in
North America
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting people.
What does it eat?
Like other spittlebugs, it drinks juice from plants.
How fast is it?
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
Alder spittlebug about 1 km/h (0.62 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
The foam keeps the young spittlebug wet and hidden from hungry animals.
2
Scientists split it into three kinds, called subspecies.
3
It belongs to a family of spittlebugs called Clastopteridae.
you asked
Most asked questions about Alder spittlebug
?Is the alder spittlebug harmful?
No. It is harmless to people.
?Why is there foam on plants?
Young spittlebugs make a foam that hides them and keeps them from drying out.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Clastoptera obtusa
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Clastopteridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Clastopteridae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Clastoptera obtusa (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Mike Boone. CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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