dogwood spittlebug

Dogwood spittlebug is a small, highly variable but easily recognized, jumping insect. It occurs in the United States from Maine to Minnesota, south to North Carolina and eastern Texas, and in southern Canada from Nova Scotia to Manitoba. It is adventive in the west in Washington, Idaho, western Montana, and southern Vancouver Canada. Nymphs feed on the sap of at least five species of dogwood shrubs. They have no exoskeleton and produce a spittle mass in order to remain moist. Adults feed on the foliage of those same dogwoods, and also on blueberries and buckeyes.

Females are ⅛″ (3.3 to 4.1 mm) in length. Males are a little smaller, ⅛″ (2.9 to 3.5 mm) in length. The body is yellow and black, short, and almost globe shaped.

The face is directed downward and is not visible when viewed from the front and a little above. The antennae are short and bristle-like. The plate over the thorax (pronotum) does not extend back over the abdomen. The plate behind the pronotum (scutellum) is elongated. There is a convex false eyespot on each side of the thorax near the wing base, and another at the rear near each wing tip. The legs are yellow. On the fourth segment (tibia) of the hind leg, the outer edge has two stout, thorn-like spurs, and there is a circlet of black-tipped spines at the tip.

The lower half of the face is entirely yellow and contrasts strongly with the entirely black upper half. The head and the front half of the pronotum are marked with contrasting black and yellow bands. Beyond this, the amount of each color is highly variable. The false eyespots may be black or brownish-orange. The forewings are usually mostly black with a patch of yellow near the base and a patch of brownish-orange at the rear.

Nymphs resemble adults but they are pale, and they have no wings. They usually have a pale yellowish abdomen and a dark head and thorax. Sometimes they are light brown with dark brown at the base and the tip of the abdomen.

Female: ⅛″ (3.3 to 4.1 mm)

Male: ⅛″(2.9 to 3.5 mm)

May through August

Eggs are laid under bark in the summer and overwinter.

Sap of dogwoods

Foliage of dogwoods, blueberries, and buckeyes

Sources

27, 29, 30, 82, 83.

This is a highly variable species, and ten subspecies have been described, but these are not recognized by most sources.

Clastoptera proteus dogwood spittlebug

Dogwood spittlebug on gray dogwood leaf Barnes Prairie Racine Co., WI July 31, 2020

Dogwood spittlebug on Queen of the prairie, Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI July 2, 2022

Dogwood Spittlebug Nymphs
SpringfieldMN

Alfredo Colon
6/19/2024

Location: Albany, NY

Location: Albany, NY

Location: Albany, NY

Location: Albany, NY

Location: Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI

Dogwood spittlebug on gray dogwood leaf Barnes Prairie Racine Co., WI July 31, 2020

Location: Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI

Dogwood spittlebug on Queen of the prairie, Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI July 2, 2022