{"id":7824,"date":"2017-01-30T19:32:37","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T19:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7824"},"modified":"2017-01-15T14:19:55","modified_gmt":"2017-01-15T14:19:55","slug":"cockoo-spit-and-the-froghopper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/gardening\/pests-problems\/cockoo-spit-and-the-froghopper\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuckoo Spit and The Froghopper"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It is nothing to do with birds or frogs but there is a lot of it about this year.<br \/>\n<a title=\"Cuckoo spit by brianpettinger, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hortoris\/4706750676\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4047\/4706750676_f726f3e5b2.jpg\" alt=\"Cockoo Spit froth containing nymph of Froghopper\" width=\"375\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cuckoo spit is the white froth found on plants in early summer. It contains and protects the grub or nymph of the Common Froghopper .<br \/>\nThey are called Froghoppers because from above they appear frog-like, and they are able to hop significant distances when disturbed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Problems Caused by Cuckoo Spit<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Froghoppers are a pest known particularly to fruit-growers. They feed on plant sap which they extract from the leaves and stems of plants.<\/li>\n<li>The grubs causes minor damage in itself, but the insects can carry viruses which can cause serious harm to crops.<\/li>\n<li>The eggs are laid on a variety of plants including tender young shoots of Willow, Cherry, Canterbury Bells, Primulas and Apple.<\/li>\n<li>Tender shoots and leaves can distort.<\/li>\n<li>In gardens they are frequently encountered on such plants as chrysanthemum, dahlia, fuchsia, lavender, rosemary and rose.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a title=\"cuckoo spit by brianpettinger, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hortoris\/4706754034\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4050\/4706754034_811b1550bd.jpg\" alt=\"Grub on leaf\" width=\"489\" height=\"419\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The immature light green grub can be seen in this froth on the back of this leaf which is now distorted and curling round the wound.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Treatments For Cuckoo Spit<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hose off the froth with water or soapy water and the grub will desiccate and die before it can lay its own eggs.<!--more--><\/li>\n<li>Rub off the Cuckoo spit with your fingers or a cloth if the infestation is small.<\/li>\n<li>Contact insecticides are unlikely to work due to the bubble barrier.<\/li>\n<li>Systemic insecticides are necessary if the problem is severe.<\/li>\n<li>In the greenhouse keep the air humid to discourage adults from laying there 100 eggs.<\/li>\n<li>If you are tolerant leave the insect to turn into an adult and write off the problem to nature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a title=\"Damaged leaf by brianpettinger, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hortoris\/4706753842\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4035\/4706753842_bd9f40fc91.jpg\" alt=\"Damaged leaf\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nUnder the dark blemishes are two Cuckoo spit grubs that have sucked the sap and deformed the leaf.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How is the Froth Made<\/strong><br \/>\n&#8216;The froth is created by the insect excreting a fluid, the result of excess undigested plant sap, exuding through the anus. This sap, as it is excreted, mixes with a secretion from the abdominal glands. Air bubbles are introduced through a special valve on the abdomen which acts like a bellows, and contact with the air causes the liquid to ferment, forming the froth (or spittle).&#8217; from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/dna\/h2g2\/A812828\">h2g2<\/a><br \/>\nIt also tastes like it was made in this way so wash your hands!<\/p>\n<p>See also <a href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/gardening\/pests-problems\/common-garden-pests\/\">Common Garden Pests<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is nothing to do with birds or frogs but there is a lot of it about this year. Cuckoo spit is the white froth found on plants in early summer. It contains and protects the grub or nymph of the Common Froghopper . They are called Froghoppers because from above they appear frog-like, and they are able to hop significant distances when disturbed. Problems Caused by Cuckoo Spit Froghoppers are a pest known particularly to fruit-growers. They feed on&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/gardening\/pests-problems\/cockoo-spit-and-the-froghopper\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pests-problems"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}