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Sticker of Diamondback spittlebug
Bug card No. 1358 of 4,939

Diamondback spittlebug

Lepyronia quadrangularis
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The diamondback spittlebug is a small brownish bug with two slanting dark bands across its wings. Its babies hide inside a blob of foam that looks like spit. Inside the bubbles they stay safe and wet while they eat.

Lives in
Many places, including North America, in grassy fields and meadows
Top speed
about 1 km/h (0.62 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. The foam is not spit at all and will not hurt you.
What does it eat?
It sucks juice from many grasses, shrubs and other plants.
For real!Photo of Diamondback spittlebug
Picture by Robert Webster. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The tip of each front wing has a small blackish curve.

2

Eggs are laid between a grass leaf and its stem, from midsummer to late autumn.

3

It spends the winter as an egg.

4

The young bugs eat and shed their skin inside their foam.

you asked

Most asked questions about Diamondback spittlebug

?What is the foam on plants?

It is made by young spittlebugs to hide and keep wet. It is not real spit.

?What does the diamondback spittlebug eat?

It drinks the juice of grasses, shrubs and other plants.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Lepyronia quadrangularis
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Aphrophoridae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Aphrophoridae
Lives on
North America
Also known as
Diamond-backed spittle bug

Where the facts come from

  1. Lepyronia quadrangularis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Robert Webster. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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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