Today the bug of the week should really come with “Smell-o-vision.†To really get the whole experience, pull out your jar of rosemary, slide off the lid and take a deep whiff. Ummm….
Okay, back to bug of the week. I was looking at our rosemary plant this morning. Rosemary grows great here as a landscape plant.
It has tiny blue flowers that grow in clusters. The flowers are attractive to honey bees.
This morning what I spotted wasn’t a rosemary flower, however, it was a soft, white ball on the stem.
Any guesses?
This is the frothy home of the spittle bug. Or in this case, two spittle bugs. The bugs are relatives of aphids. They feed by sticking their straw-like mouthparts into the plant and sucking out the plant juices. They also excrete a bubbly material to hide in while they are feeding. The two insects in this photo are nymphs. When they become adults they will have wings and look like leafhoppers.
Don’t worry about me exposing the bugs for a picture. I actually had taken a picture of this one first.
Within seconds, it was already producing froth to cover itself back up again.
Wonder what it would be like to live in a froth house? Sure smells good, I bet.
