Froghopper
Overview
Hemiptera
Hemiptera is an order of insects most often known as the true bugs , comprising around 50,000–80,000 species of cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, and others...
n insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha
Auchenorrhyncha
The Auchenorrhyncha is the suborder of the Hemiptera which contains most of the familiar members of what was called the Homoptera - groups such as cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and spittlebugs. The aphids and scale insects are the other well-known "Homoptera", and they are in...
. Traditionally, most of this superfamily was considered a single family, Cercopidae
Cercopidae
Cercopidae are the largest family of Cercopoidea, a xylem-feeding insect group, commonly called froghoppers . They belong to the hemipteran suborder Auchenorrhyncha....
, but this family has been split into three separate families for many years now: the Aphrophoridae, Cercopidae
Cercopidae
Cercopidae are the largest family of Cercopoidea, a xylem-feeding insect group, commonly called froghoppers . They belong to the hemipteran suborder Auchenorrhyncha....
, and Clastopteridae. More recently, the family Epipygidae has been removed from the Aphrophoridae. These families are best known for the nymph
Nymph (biology)
In biology, a nymph is the immature form of some invertebrates, particularly insects, which undergoes gradual metamorphosis before reaching its adult stage. Unlike a typical larva, a nymph's overall form already resembles that of the adult. In addition, while a nymph moults it never enters a...
stage, which produces a cover of frothed-up plant sap resembling spit
Saliva
Saliva , referred to in various contexts as spit, spittle, drivel, drool, or slobber, is the watery substance produced in the mouths of humans and most other animals. Saliva is a component of oral fluid. In mammals, saliva is produced in and secreted from the three pairs of major salivary glands,...
; the nymphs are therefore commonly known as spittlebugs, or spit bugs, and their froth as cuckoo spit, frog spit or snake spit.
